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Judge rejects Oakley's lawsuit, says Dolan had right to eject him from MSG

Cooper Neill / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A Manhattan federal judge ruled Wednesday that Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan had the right to eject New York Knicks legend Charles Oakley from the arena during a 2017 game.

Judge Richard Sullivan rejected Oakley's lawsuit against Dolan over the matter, according to the New York Daily News' Stephen Rex Brown.

"Oakley grossly misunderstands the law concerning a landlord's right to remove a trespasser from its property," Sullivan wrote. "The law is clear that the MSG defendants had the right to expel Oakley from the Garden and that his refusal to leave justified their use of reasonable force to remove him."

The Madison Square Garden Company released a statement shortly afterward, thanking the court for the ruling. "This was an incident that no one was happy about," the statement read. "Maybe now there can be peace between us."

The brouhaha occurred on Feb. 8, 2017, when Oakley - who was a fan favorite with the Knicks from 1988-98 - was forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden by security. Oakley had been sitting near Dolan, who later said the decision was made because the former player appeared intoxicated and was being verbally abusive.

Oakley was arrested by the NYPD during the incident and filed the lawsuit against Dolan soon after.

Following the judge's ruling on Wednesday, Oakley's attorney said he plans to file an appeal.

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