Draymond Green says remarks about Dolan 'came off the wrong way'

By Sports Illustrated and SI Wire/Sports Illustrated
Published

Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Draymond Green clarified his comments about New York Knicks owner James Dolan using a "slave master mentality," saying his remarks "came off the wrong way" in regards to Dolan's treatment towards former NBA player Charles Oakley.

Oakley was ejected from Madison Square Garden and arrested during a game Feb. 8 after a physical altercation with security guards. Dolan later banned Oakley from the arena, but lifted the ban days later after commissioner Adam Silver intervened, with the help of Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan.

Oakley even compared Dolan to former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life from the NBA and forced to sell the team after being heard on an audio recording making racist remarks.

“You doing it for me, it's all good. You doing it against me -- you speaking out against my organization -- it's not good anymore? That's a slave mentality. A slave master mentality. That's ridiculous,” Green said on his "Dray Day" podcast.

“It was all fine and dandy when he was laying people out, taking fines and all this stuff for your organization. But now, all of a sudden, when he says something that he feels, it's a problem.”

"I never said James Dolan has a slave master mentality," Green told ESPN Radio. "I said when you look at something and someone is doing something for someone and all of a sudden they can't anymore, that falls under the slave mentality. I can't say James Dolan is a racist. I don't know James Dolan. Honestly, if he walked past me right now, I wouldn't know who he is."

Green believes that Oakley was treated unfair by Dolan.

"I thought some of the things said about Charles Oakley -- from James Dolan, from the New York Knicks twitter handle -- some of the things said about Oakley was wrong, and I still feel that way," Green said. "However, I think that was a mistake by Dolan and a mistake by the Knicks, then I followed up and made the same mistake.

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