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Police say gunman who shot two managers at Florida gym had just been fired

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Property transactions for the week of April 3, 2017

<p>Charles Oakley has been a beloved forward and a banned fan at Madison Square Garden.</p><p>But before Oakley, the former NBA enforcer and rebounding machine with the New York Knicks, can reconcile with his former team and return to the arena, he&#8217;s trying to beat the rap stemming from the altercation that led to his ejection and arrest in February at the Garden.</p><p>Oakley told The Associated Press he had no regrets over his behavior that night that led him getting handcuffed near an arena exit as he waited for police to arrive.</p><p>&#8220;I would have done everything just the same way,&#8221; Oakley said by phone. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t do nothing. I was only in the arena five minutes. I didn&#8217;t know you could get in that much trouble in five minutes. I&#8217;d take my chances and do the same thing again.&#8221;</p><p>Oakley was charged with three counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of criminal trespass. He is accused of striking one security guard in the face with a closed fist, and when two other people tried to intervene, both were pushed and received cuts.</p><p>He is due in court Tuesday.</p><p>Oakley was set to travel to Chicago and attend Sunday&#8217;s service for former Bulls executive Jerry Krause and return to New York on Monday.</p><p>The 53-year-old Oakley played for the Knicks from 1988-98, helping them reach the NBA Finals, but has a splintered relationship with the team because of his criticism of owner James Dolan.</p><p>Dolan lifted Oakley&#8217;s ban from MSG shortly after meeting with Oakley and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Oakley, known as candid, unfiltered and Michael Jordan&#8217;s de facto bodyguard, said nothing was really settled in the meeting.</p><p>So the looming question remains: What will it take to get Oakley back at MSG for a Knicks game?</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the million dollar question. I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Oakley said. &#8220;Right now, we&#8217;re trying to get closure. Why was there a ban? Why do I have three assault cases? I want to get all that settled. That&#8217;s the most important thing right now. It&#8217;s not about the ban or going to the Garden. It&#8217;s about going to the next step.&#8221;</p><p>Oakley said he was still unsure why the fracas went down at MSG. Oakley maintains he did nothing wrong before arena security approached him just a few rows behind Dolan. Oakley was no longer comped tickets or invited to official team functions, though he attended a few times a year when he bought his own tickets. He was there only a matter of minutes before the altercation that included him hitting one security guard in the face and shoving at least one other before he was dragged away and handcuffed.</p><p>&#8220;I hope we can come to an understanding, and get to the point of, &#8216;why?&#8217;&#8221; Oakley said.</p><p>Dolan later suggested on ESPN New York that the former player &#8220;has a problem with anger. He&#8217;s both physically and verbally abusive. He may have a problem with alcohol. We don&#8217;t know.&#8221;</p><p>Oakley denied having anger or substance abuse issues.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve shown none of that stuff he&#8217;s talked about,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing that can tell him I have any of the things that he&#8217;s talking about in my life. He&#8217;s said this three or four times to different people. It&#8217;s his way of trying to throw people under the bus .&#8221;</p><p>NBA stars and fans publicly supported the former tough guy enforcer, who instigated a few feuds and flagrant fouls in his prime. Knicks fans chanted &#8220;Free Charles Oakley!&#8221; Cavaliers star LeBron James quipped, &#8220;Charles Oakley for president.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Nobody had to go to bat for me. You think of all the people who went to bat for me, they know I&#8217;m a true gentleman guy at all times,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Oakley would rather stir the pot in the kitchen; his cooking has earned him a spot on Food Network&#8217;s &#8220;Chopped Tournament of Stars&#8221; and he said there are plans to soon release his own cookbook .</p><p>His specialty includes a sea bass with pineapple, asparagus, mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts.</p><p>&#8220;I just want to get in the kitchen and do your favorite meal,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Oakley also wants to launch a clothing line next year, though he&#8217;s concerned his brush with notoriety could shut some doors in corporate America.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely going to punish me with some of the things I&#8217;ll probably try and do in the future,&#8221; Oakley said. &#8220;Some people don&#8217;t believe in luggage. They don&#8217;t like when there are things about you that are out there.&#8221;</p><p>Oakley has refused to keep a low profile since the MSG dustup. He mixed it up with another former bad boy, Dennis Rodman , over issues of rest; expressed his disappointment that former teammate Patrick Ewing failed to come to his defense (On Georgetown&#8217;s new coach: &#8220;Good luck to him. We&#8217;ll see how the ball bounces&#8221;) and signed on for a role as player/coach in the debut of the BIG 3 3-on-3 league backed by rapper Ice Cube.</p><p>He believed the same hard-nosed approached that served him well over a 19-year playing career, which included two stints with the Chicago Bulls, will serve him well in court.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not nervous. I believe in myself,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They said this, they said that. But 20,000 people were at the game. Millions of people saw what happened. There&#8217;s no reason for me to be nervous. If I&#8217;m wrong, I&#8217;ll take my punishment.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Former New York Knicks forward Charles Oakley </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_115968488-fda2ffa949f141ba879f3ac9f59df610.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former New York Knicks forward Charles Oakley </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DAN GELSTON</p><p>AP Sports Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

Ex-Knick Charles Oakley set for day in court in wake of MSG arrest