Someone hand the Knicks my resume.

KAS
Feb 17, 2017
6 min read

Oh for the love of God, GET IT TOGETHER KNICKS.

I've been watching this story unfold over the past week and decided now is the time I pay my two cents (or more like eight dollars, but whatever.) Having studied PR and worked in the industry, I'm no expert but I can tell the difference between genuine PR efforts and bullshit. The poor Knicks have tripped and fallen into the second category here and I swear it actually made me cringe.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, let me break it down for you real quick.

The gist.

Charles Oakley played in the NBA for 19 seasons with 10 spent in a New York Knicks uniform. His time in the Big Apple is arguably the highlight of his career and where he established himself as a reliable, physical, defensive specialist in the '90s. That's all great except the Knicks owner, James Dolan, isn't a big fan of this particular athlete.

According to news outlets, Dolan has refused to speak with Oakley for years and on Feb. 8 it allllllllll hit the fan. Oakley attended a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden (MSG) that night... that is, until some claim he "heckled" Dolan in the stands and security shut the party down. Oakley became visibly upset after being told to leave, prompting him to use profanity toward security guards and giving Dolan slightly enough reason to call for his physical removal from the stands.

Which is when the 6'8 fan-favorite was shoved, handcuffed, drug and laid on the ground, all captured on video for the world to see.

While this isn't exactly model behavior of an accomplished athlete on his home turf, this definitely isn't how to conduct yourself as a franchise owner. As if publicly arguing with the beloved ex-Knickerbocker in MSG isn't bad enough, Dolan then had him arrested and charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and criminal trespassing. Meanwhile, fans in The Garden chanted Oakley's name in support of the former athlete.

BUT WAIT, it gets even worse.

In the 24 hours following this overwhelmingly petty debacle, the Knicks released multiple statements throwing Oakley under the Knicks losing bus.

The aftermath.

It's tough for me to find the words expressing how distasteful and disrespectful this type of crisis PR is - but I studied journalism, so I'll give it a go.

Who do these people think they are?! It's one thing to dismiss the irrational behavior of a drunken fan, it's an entirely different scenario when that fan donated 10 years of his life toward bettering this franchise. The Knicks put this well-known and cherished athlete on BLAST, hanging him out to dry as if he hasn't continually worked to improve this team. Yes, Oakley played for many other organizations but he's choosing to sit here at MSG on a Wednesday night and cheer on yours.

Live-tweeting Oakley's arrest, calling his behavior "abusive" and insinuating it was a result of some treatable (aka alcohol-related) problem... I just don't know what else to say besides wow. The statement was clearly written on an iPhone notepad with a combative tone and I'm forced to assume Dolan crafted this emotional, blame-game statement because it cannot be the work of a trained PR professional. You are the leader of an elite organization, not a kindergarten student. Don't point fingers.

Public relations is pretty simple. You just do things to highlight your organization's good qualities, genuinely relate to your audience and repair any accidental damage along the way. Combine this with social media and a few public statements and in a nutshell, your job is done.

Somehow, I don't think Dolan and the Knicks media department quite understand what public relations truly is. I think their understanding might be more along the lines of "the Knicks rule and if bad stuff happens, it ain't our fault."

Because, Dolan didn't just stop there. He interviewed on multiple radio shows, literally saying, "I'm sure he has problems... The first step is to turn that around for yourself is admitting you have a problem. And then from there you can begin to take the steps to take control back in your life.”

Oakley acknowledged these assertions and although admitted to having a few drinks prior to the game, he's strongly denied Dolan's alcoholism claims. In support of Oakley during this slander, multiple athletes including LeBron James and Dwayne Wade publicly backed his character.

But the Knicks weren't done. They also issued an indefinite ban on Oakley from MSG while releasing multiple witness statements backing Dolan's story.

ARE YOU FOR REAL. You're going to all this trouble to cover your own ass, which likely didn't need much covering in the first place, and now you're tarnishing the character of this dedicated Knick in the process. Really though, who do you think you are?!

In the midst of all the madness, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stepped in to host a meeting between Dolan, Oakley and Michael Jordan (lol?). But apparently it worked and as of Tuesday, the Knicks officially released their MSG Oakley ban.

The part that just gets me in all of this is how riled up Dolan and the Knicks seem to be over Oakley. In the past 16 years, the Knicks have only had three winning seasons. THREE. You'd think that would get the administrative staff a bit fired up but somehow they decided to focus on former players instead?

Lol okay.

How I would've handled this.

Step 1: Issue a statement, via press conference or release, apologizing to fans and players for the distracting and disappointing situation while reminding them that safety is the first priority of all security staff. Speak positively of Oakley and his importance to this organization, promising to work through this incident together.

Step 2: Extend an olive branch to Oakley, offering to meet up and sort any hard feelings out.

Step 3: Don't ban Oakley. Don't bash Oakley. Don't berate Oakley.

Step 4: Don't insinuate ANYTHING. It is not the Knicks' duty to assume what happens in Oakley's personal life, nor is it their responsibility to tell the public about any speculations. That is gossip, libel and petty. It's just ridiculous.

Step 5: Minimize the issue, speak little on what happened and move the hell on.

I don't care if Dolan is even sorry. Y'all are grown ups - sometimes you have to apologize and make amends even if you believe your actions were justified. It's respectful, mature and just what good people do. C'mon Dolan, we learn this stuff in pre-school.

Why I'm not surprised though.

After a bit of research I learned this isn't Dolan's first media misstep. Apparently he's restricted media access since the year 2000, prohibited MSG entities from criticizing the organization and ousted reporters for any negative Knicks speech.

I mean... it's the Knicks. You can't demand praise with only three winning seasons since the millennium. Get real Dolan.

But then again, he also engaged in a self-named "tit for tat" battle with an elderly fan... so there's that too. In 2015 the Knicks owner received a 73-year-old Knicks fan's letter criticizing his ownership, to which Dolan responded combatively (shocker!) by telling the man to cheer for the Nets instead and calling him an "alcoholic maybe." Good one.

You'd think Dolan might be a bit more sensitive to addiction seeing as he dealt with his own substance abuse and anger issues, prompting a visit to rehab many years ago. But whatever.

And the Knicks' PR twitter? Since when do organizations need an entire account just for public relations concerns? Well, they don't. It's silly and because the content is slightly really dull (with the exception of these two recent team "statements") it isn't necessary. Delete, delete, delete.

*sigh.*

I rest my case. If the Knicks are interested in hiring a young media professional and for Knicks fans' sake I hope they are, then someone please pass along my resume. I'll even add a personal note with my application, detailing my apology to Dolan for any offensive statements in this post.

Because, ya know, that's what you do in PR. Or adult life. Either one.