Green: Dolan remarks 'came off wrong way'

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green told ESPN that his comments about New York Knicks owner James Dolan using a "slave master mentality" in regards to Charles Oakley "came off the wrong way."Green originally made his comments earlier this week...

Green: Dolan remarks 'came off wrong way'

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green told ESPN that his comments about New York Knicks owner James Dolan using a "slave master mentality" in regards to Charles Oakley "came off the wrong way."

Green originally made his comments earlier this week on his on his "Dray Day" podcast on Uninterrupted, saying Dolan took issue with Oakley's criticisms after the organization benefited from his contributions as a player.

"You doing it for me, it's all good," Green said . "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.

"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."

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Draymond Green has accused New York Knicks owner James Dolan of having a "slave master mentality" when it comes to Charles Oakley.

Resolving the confict between Charles Oakley and Knicks owner James Dolan won't come simply with a meeting and conference call with Michael Jordan, the former power forward says.

On Thursday, however, Green clarified those comments to ESPN.

"I never said James Dolan doesn't have a slave master mentality," Green told ESPN Radio's Meet The All-Stars show that will air Saturday night (5:30 p.m. ET). "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 maintains that Dolan is in the wrong for how he has treated Oakley.

"I thought it was unfair the way Oakley was treated. 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.

"Like I said, I don't know (Dolan). I could never say he's a racist or he has a slave owner's mentality. I don't know if he has that. That's just how the situation looked to me from the outside looking in. And so that came off the wrong way and it wasn't what I meant by it.

"But what I meant by it, there should be a respect level between players, ownership, staff, people who work in the organization, the league office, former players. It's a family. And I think there should always be a respect level that is kept amongst the family, and I don't think that situation it was necessarily kept."

ESPN's Ian Begley contributed to this report.

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