Ex-NBA player sanctioned in legal fight with Madison Square Garden

By David Thomas

Nov 3 (Reuters) - A judge has ordered one-time New York Knicks All-Star Charles Oakley to pay more than $642,000 in attorney fees and costs to Madison Square Garden as a sanction for losing five years' worth of text messages that could have been used as evidence in a lawsuit he filed over his ejection from a game at the stadium in 2017.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky issued the ruling on Friday in the long-running case, which has featured multiple sanctions requests from both sides. Madison Square Garden's attorneys at King & Spalding had sought more than $1.5 million in fees, but Tarnofsky reduced that amount.

Valdi Licul, a Wigdor partner who is representing Oakley, said they "disagree that MSG is entitled to any recovery and will promptly seek to appeal."

Attorneys for Madison Square Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oakley is a 19-year NBA veteran and fan favorite who was a Knicks power forward from 1988 to 1998, and who for years has feuded with James Dolan, the owner of both Madison Square Garden and the Knicks.

Oakley sued Madison Square Garden after he was ejected from his courtside seat during a February 8, 2017, game between the Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers. In his latest amended complaint from April 2024, the former NBA player is alleging claims of assault and battery against the stadium and its related entities. The defendants have denied wrongdoing.

Oakley's lawyers said in August 2024 that their client lost all text messages he had sent or received between February 8, 2017, and February 2022. Oakley said his phone broke and he lost the messages when he upgraded to a new device. However, a federal judge in July noted Oakley had upgraded his phone previously without losing the texts.

"The court concludes that Oakley’s loss of his text messages cannot be credibly explained as involving anything other than bad faith," U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan said in the July order.

Oakley and Madison Square Garden have other sanctions requests pending with the court, with each side accusing the other of making false statements about the case.

(Reporting by David Thomas)