Security drags Charles Oakley out of Knicks game in unreal scene

“That was sad,” Rivers said. “That was tough for me to watch. Honest to God, you could see it, I actually took three steps and I swear I was going to run down there and I thought, ‘What the hell am I going to do?’ But I didn’t like that. That’s my guy.

“He’s the best teammate in the world. He really is. I’ve been in the league a long time, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Rivers said he was particularly upset when he saw Oakley dragged through the tunnel to the area under the stands.

“Let me go, let me go,” Oakley said repeatedly before being taken away.

The Knicks released a statement shortly after the incident that occurred at 6:18 of the first quarter.

“Charles Oakley came to the game tonight and behaved in a highly inappropriate and completely abusive manner. He has been ejected and is currently being arrested by the New York City Police Department.

“He was a great Knick and we hope he gets some help soon,” the statement said.

Oakley in the past has complained about Dolan. He has been critical of the team under Dolan’s ownership and has claimed he is forced to pay for tickets — when he can get them — that generally are complimentary for former players.

A video of the incident posted on social media shows Oakley, with Dolan nearby to the former player’s right, in a heated debate with an apparent member of Garden security. Oakley got in that person’s face, then slapped away the hand of another security guard before he shoved him twice. Oakley then was restrained by four, then five security personnel, who led him out of the seating area. Dolan is seen to Oakley’s right in the video with tennis celebrity John McEnroe also visible.

Mike Breen, who was working the telecast Wednesday for ESPN, was saddened by the incident.

“As somebody who has lived in New York my whole life, and broadcasting for the Knicks throughout Charles Oakley’s time here, he is beloved in this city for the type of player he was, and to see an incident like this, it’s just painful,” Breen said.

“It’s so sad that the relationship between Oakley and the Knicks organization has gotten to the point where something like this happened.”

Spencer Checketts, the son of former Knicks president Dave Checketts, wrote on Twitter that his father had been attempting to bail Oakley out of jail. LeBron James put up a picture of Oakley on Instagram with the caption: “#Legend.”

Two years ago, Oakley addressed an angry email sent to a fan by Dolan, who reacted bitterly to the fan complaining about the team.

“I’m tired of talking about Dolan man. Y’all know how Dolan [is]. Y’all been around,” Oakley said. “He said things to people that he shouldn’t say. He did stuff to people that he shouldn’t do. He’s a billion dollar guy.”

But Oakley always wanted to know what he did to alienate the owner. Well, at one point he called him a “mother [expletive].”

That may have had something to do with it.

“I want to know what I did to be hated so bad by the owner,” Oakley said back then.

Knicks players afterward were aware of the incident but did not know details.

“I was kind of on the opposite end of the court,” Carmelo Anthony said. “I just saw a commotion, guys standing up, I don’t really know kind of what happened, all the details.”

Said Derrick Rose: “That was the weirdest. I didn’t know what was going on. We just saw him being escorted out.”

— Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan and Larry Celona