There was a time when Charles Oakley was one of the most beloved figures in New York.

Heck, that was a just a few months ago.

Now, Oakley is sullying his reputation in The Big Apple so badly that some New York Knicks fans are beginning to side with James Dolan in Oakley's feud with the owner.

Yes. Seriously.

Over the years, Oakley has said a lot of stuff. Some of it interesting, some of it wrong. But Knicks fans loved him anyway. Until Oakley crossed the line.

That line was knocking New York legend Patrick Ewing, who spearheaded the Knicks' run in the '90s when they were regularly challenging for Eastern Conference supremacy.

Say what you want about Dolan. Say what you want about the Knicks' front office. Heck, even the fans.

But don't say anything about Ewing.

Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing, Knicks

Ewing was the last truly great player to ever be drafted by New York. Yes, there was a love-hate relationship between Ewing and the fans during his Knicks tenure as a result of Ewing never delivering on his promise of winning a championship. But at its core, New York loved Ewing. And Ewing loved New York.

So over the last several months, when Charles Oakley has thrown jab after jab at Ewing and blaming him for the Knicks' inability to win a title in the '90s, the fan base is obviously going to bristle.

Oakley reared his head again this week in the wake of the most recent episode of “The Last Dance,” castigating Ewing for New York blowing a 2-0 lead over Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals.

“The Bulls had Michael and we had Patrick,” Charles Oakley said, via Marc Berman of The New York Post. “It’s like seeing Beyoncé and going to see someone trying to be Beyoncé”

Or maybe Michael had Scottie Pippen and Patrick had you?

Ewing averaged 25.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game while shooting 53.0 percent from the floor in the Knicks' six-game loss to the Bulls 27 years ago. Meanwhile, Oakley posted 8.7 points and 10.8 boards per game while making 43.9 percent of his shots.

Look, I get it: Oakley was never a scorer. He didn't put up big numbers. That wasn't his game. But I don't think someone who didn't even average 10 points per game in the series should be ripping a guy who averaged 26 and 11.

I don't know what it is with Oakley and Ewing. For whatever reason, Oak has a beef with Ewing. Clearly, he did not enjoy playing with Ewing, and he doesn't think much of Ewing as a person, saying the center didn't have the drive that Jordan and other superstars had.

But to sink to this level is ridiculous, and it is driving a gap between Charles Oakley and New York.

Charles Oakley, Knicks

During the '90s, Knicks fans adored Oakley. He largely represented what the team was all about: Toughness, intensity and grit. He brought his lunch pail to work every day and was not afraid to lay his body on the line in order to get the job done.

For that, Oakley deserves to be admired.

But to say that Ewing wasn't leaving it all out on the floor or that he was basically holding everyone back is complete nonsense.

I know Oakley was no longer with the Knicks at this point, but during the 1999 playoffs, Ewing actually played on a partially torn Achilles before bowing out in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It's no secret that a torn Achilles is probably the worst injury that a basketball player can have, and yet, Ewing was out there playing with it. He was limping up and down the floor, giving every ounce of effort.

Maybe Oakley doesn't remember that because he was with the Toronto Raptors at the time. Or maybe he just doesn't want to remember because he was bitter about being traded for Marcus Camby.

Whatever the case may be, to just gloss over the fact that Ewing was a genuine superstar who never cheated himself, his team or the fans is blasphemy to Knicks fans.

Between 1990 and 1998, Ewing averaged over 20 and 10 every single season. He regularly shot near or above 50 percent from the floor. He was a defensive monster.

Yes, MJ got in the way, but Jordan got in the way of a whole lot of greats. Just ask Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. Even Alonzo Mourning and Reggie Miller.

The Last Dance, Patrick Ewing, Knicks, Bulls, Michael Jordan

The whole “the Bulls had Michael and we had Patrick” thing just sounds silly, because, again, I'm sure Ewing would have loved to have had Pippen as a teammate.

Hopefully one day, Oakley will apologize for his absurd statements. But this is Charles Oakley we are talking about. It's not going to happen.

Charles Oakley will just dig his ditch deeper and deeper until Knicks fans not only dislike him, but learn to ignore him altogether.