A year ago, New York Knicks great Charles Oakley was hauled out of Madison Square Garden after trying to fight team owner James Dolan in the lower bowl of the arena.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERE1Ycl2Ld4

He spent the night in jail before being released the next morning. Oakley was charged with misdemeanor assault but those charges were ultimately dropped as long as he stayed out of trouble for six months.

But now, the tables have flipped and according to Ian Begley of ESPN, Oakley has filed civil suits against James Dolan and Madison Square Garden.

So why exactly does he have a civil suit against the two parties?

“He's angry about what happened to him and the way he was treated,” Oakley's attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said. “He was treated like a common criminal rather than a former star of the New York Knicks. … He wants to hold Mr. Dolan and Madison Square Garden accountable for what they did.”

For Oakley to win this civil suit, some well-known attorneys believe it's going to be an uphill battle and also be very difficult.

“As a public figure, in any defamation action, he not only is going to have to prove that the statements made about were false, he's also going to have to prove that when they were spoken, they were spoken with knowledge that they were false. It's difficult,” said Benjamin Zipursky, a professor at Fordham University School of Law and an expert in tort and defamation law.

If Oakley were to win the case, it's not very clear what type of damages he is looking for, but most expect him to not drop the case and fight it to the end.