Another Oakley Run-In, Another Clipper Defeat

Charles Oakley, a reserve forward for the Washington Wizards, charged at Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry during the shoot-around Wednesday morning at Staples Center, threatening Gentry with physical harm. Michael Jordan of the Wizards and Dennis Johnson, a Clipper assistant, and others restrained Oakley.

The incident happened as the Clippers were leaving the court and the Wizards were taking it for a workout several hours before Washington’s 108-104 victory Wednesday night in front of an arena-record crowd of 20,578.

The events of the day cast a shadow on the events of the evening, what with Jordan making what could be his penultimate appearance in Los Angeles. The Wizards play the Lakers on March 28 at Staples Center.

Jordan scored 23 points on eight-for-24 shooting and had 12 assists and six rebounds in 39 minutes before fouling out with the Wizards ahead by 104-100 with 14.4 seconds left, drawing a standing ovation from the fans as he took a seat on the floor along the baseline.

Before the game, Gentry downplayed the incident with Oakley, a seasoned veteran the Lakers had an interest in acquiring at one point during the off-season. The Clippers face the Wizards on March 5 at Washington and Gentry hoped to put the issue to rest Wednesday.

“It was nothing,” he said. “It’s not even worth putting in the paper. It’s not even worth writing about as a note.”

The Clippers declined further comment, although Vice President of Communications Joe Safety said the incident was reported to the NBA office in New York. The team expressed concern about what Oakley might do next.

There was no immediate comment available from the league, but Washington Coach Doug Collins said he was told Oakley will not be suspended.

“A bunch of us were just standing around talking, Alvin, D.J., Michael, Doug Collins and [Wizard assistant] Patrick Ewing, when Oakley starts talking and coming toward Alvin,” said one eyewitness who did not want to be identified. “They all had to stop him before he got to Alvin.”

Oakley was not available for comment.

It’s not the first run-in the Clippers have had with Oakley in recent seasons.

According to league sources, Oakley blames Gentry for reporting an incident Dec. 1, 2000, when Oakley, then with the Toronto Raptors, sucker-punched Jeff McInnis, now with the Portland Trail Blazers, during a shoot-around at the Air Canada Centre.

There were numerous eyewitnesses, including reporters, but sources said Oakley has held Gentry responsible for a three-game suspension and $15,000 fine for punching McInnis. The incident was over a woman, several players on the Raptors and Clippers said at the time.

Since then, there have been numerous threats allegedly made by Oakley toward the Clippers, said a Clipper official. He estimated the number of significant incidents that were reported to the league at “about six.”

Last season, while Oakley was with the Chicago Bulls, he allegedly threatened the life of a Clipper security official, who had been escorting McInnis around the United Center before a game. In the past, according to sources, Oakley had sent friends to the Clippers’ hotel in search of McInnis.

Oakley was not a factor in Wednesday’s game, entering for the first time in the third quarter and scoring three points with one rebound in nine minutes. Most -- if not all of the record number of fans -- came to see Jordan, who has hinted at retirement at season’s end.

Jordan started slowly, missing his first three shots before delivering a breakaway dunk that had the fans roaring. But he struggled to contain Corey Maggette, who had 19 points on five-for-seven shooting in the first half. Jordan would miss nine of his first 11 shots.

The teams were tied, 51-51, at halftime, but keyed by Jordan’s array of fallaway jump shots, the Wizards built an 84-74 lead after three quarters.