Former Knicks manager Jeff Van Gundy thinks Charles Oakley’s jersey should hang between the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
But Oakley doesn’t want to be a part of it.
Speaking on The Athletic podcast “Shattered: Hope, Heartbreak and the New York Knicks”, Van Gundy recalls the night Oakley was kicked out of MSG in 2017 and lobbied for the retirement of the former Knicks star’s jersey.
“If I were Mr. Dolan, I’d take his number back and do a ceremony with or without him,” Van Gundy said. “I think the game of him, his impact on the win and his unique relationship with the fans guarantee him the number he has retired.”
Oakley, however, told James Posey while appearing on a podcast in February that he doesn’t want his shirt to be withdrawn from MSG and that he turned down the Knicks offer earlier.
“They came up to me and said they would pick up my jersey, do this and that,” Oakley said. “And I’m like, ‘Nah, you can’t buy me that easily. If you pick up the shirt, that benefits you, that doesn’t benefit me.'”
Oakley says he prefers his shirt hanging outside MSG so that all of New York can see it.
“And I take it to heart,” Oakley said. “I would prefer it to be outside rather than inside as I was not welcome inside.
“Put it out with the flag and people don’t have to pay to go in and see it … let them walk by and see it. Let it be a tourist spot.”