Sports

Charles Oakley, Knicks owner James Dolan off hook for mediation talks

New York Knicks owner James Dolan and Charles Oakley will no longer be required to appear for phone mediation talks slated for Tuesday morning, according to an appellate court order from Monday.

The 56-year-old former Knicks star sued Madison Square Garden and Dolan for defamation, assault and false imprisonment over a February 2017 scuffle Oakley had with security guards, which resulted in his arrest and removal from the facility.

Dolan — the MSG chairman — later banned Oakley from the sports venue implying that he “may have a problem with alcohol.”

Oakley’s suit was tossed by a Manhattan Federal judge last month, prompting the athlete to appeal.

The Second Circuit appeals court ordered the pair into mediation earlier this month in a call scheduled for Tuesday morning.

But Monday, the Second Circuit issued a second order no longer requiring Dolan and Oakley to appear on the call. Their lawyers must still phone in for the confidential mediation talks, the court papers said.

Lawyers for Oakley and for Dolan and MSG did not immediately return a request for comment.

On Saturday, it was revealed that Dolan was self-isolating with his family in the Hamptons after he tested positive for coronavirus. Dolan was “experiencing little to no symptoms,” the Knicks said in a tweet.