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Report: Michael Jordan and Adam Silver Try to Broker Peace in Dolan-Oakley Feud

James Dolan goes face-to-face with an old foe.
Photo by Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The weirdest NBA story in years just keeps getting weirder. Days after publicly sandbagging a beloved former player, New York Knicks owner James Dolan shamelessly surrounded himself with a human wall of former Knicks—including Latrell Sprewell, whom the Knicks acquired from the Warriors via trade after he choked out then head coach P.J. Carlesimo—at Sunday's game against the San Antonio Spurs. This was in response to the Charles Oakley fiasco last week that resulted in his arrest and indefinite ban from Madison Square Garden. Apparently, Dolan subscribes to the more is better school of thought, so he replaced one beloved Knick with nine or so Knicks of varying degrees of fan adoration.

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Ex-Knicks at the game: Sprewell, Bill Bradley, B. King, L.J. (works for NYK), Gerald Wilkins, K. Walker, Herb Williams, J. Wallace, V. Baker
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 12, 2017

Immediately following the incident, the Knicks released a statement insinuating that Oakley had some kind of problem that required help; two days later, Dolan went on ESPN radio in New York City and openly speculated whether Oakley had both anger and drinking problems. He was soundly booed later that night during a 131-123 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Because these are Jim Dolan's Knicks, this is still a disaster. They actually beat the Spurs yesterday, but no one cares because no can stop rubbernecking at the self-induced shit show. So, how do you stop the Knicks from Knicksing it up left and right? According to the New York Daily News, you get Michael Jordan. As Frank Isola writes, "According to a source, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Michael Jordan conducted a conference call with Oakley and Dolan on Monday to mediate a reconciliation."

Jordan is a close friend of Oakley's, and Silver is a close friend of not wanting his New York franchise becoming any more of a laughingstock than it already is, so it makes sense that they would want to step in. It's a good bet things do get sorted unless, for the first time in his life, Jordan actually couldn't get it done against the Knicks.

Update: The NBA released a statement saying that Oakley, Dolan, and Adam Silver all met at the league office and Michael Jordan participated by phone. Oakley and Dolan apologized to each other and Dolan said he hoped Oakley returned to the Garden as his guest soon.

Oakley, Dolan, and Adam Silver met in NYC today. Michael Jordan was on the phone They're trying to mend fences, @NBA says pic.twitter.com/vqsVZrLCZ5
— Mike Vorkunov (@Mike_Vorkunov) February 14, 2017

[Daily News]