Patrick Ewing

At 61 years old, Patrick Ewing has this physical status:

Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a retired basketball player and current head coach of Georgetown University's men's basketball team.

He spent the majority of his career with the New York Knicks, as the starting center of the NBA, and he spent time with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. Ewing was a center for Georgetown for four years, where he appeared in the NCAA Championship Game three times, and was named as the 16th best college player of all time by ESPN.

He played for the New York Knicks, mainly for the eleven-time all-star and named to seven All-NBA teams during his eighteen years in NBA history, where he was mainly playing for the New York Knicks.

During his tenure (1994 & 1999), the Knicks appeared in the NBA Finals twice (1994 & 1999).

As a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball teams, he earned Olympic gold medals.

In a 1996 poll honoring the NBA's 50th anniversary of birth, Ewing was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history.

He has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, both for his individual contributions and as a member of the 1992 Olympic team.

In addition, he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the "Dream Team" in 2009.

In 2003, the Knicks cut his number 33.

Early life

Ewing was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on August 5, 1962, to Carl and Dorothy Ewing. He was born a day before Jamaica declared independence. He excelled at cricket and soccer as a child. Ewing and his family immigrated to the United States in 1975 and settled outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

With the support of John Fountain and his mentor Mike Jarvis, Ewing learned to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. With just a few years of playing experience, Ewing rose to become one of the best high school players in the country and one of the most intimidating forces ever seen at this level due to his height and athleticism. Ewing was surrounded by taunts and jeers from hostile away crowds due to his stature and the team's domination. When Ewing's squad arrived to play an away game, once rival supporters even rocked the team bus. Ewing led Cambridge Rindge and Latin to three straight Massachusetts Div. The I state championships from 1979 to 1981 were held in Australia. Ewing joined the MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program in order to prepare for college.

Personal life

From 1990 to 1998, Ewing was married to Rita Williams. Patrick Ewing Jr. has three children, including Patrick Ewing Jr.

After sister and rival NBA center Alonzo Mourning was diagnosed with a kidney disease in 2000, Ewing promised that if he ever needed one, he would give Mourning one of his kidneys. In 2003, Ewing was screened for kidney compatibility with Mourning, but Mourning's cousin was found to be the most similar.

After two years at Indiana University, Patrick Ewing Jr. moved to Georgetown University, his father's alma mater. Patrick Jr. wore the same jersey number as his father, #33. He was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the second round with the 43rd pick of the 2008 NBA draft, but he was then traded to the New York Knicks, his father's old team. He didn't make the Knicks' final roster, however, and spent the bulk of his career in the NBA Development League and Europe.

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College career

Ewing, a senior in high school, wrote a letter of intent to work for coach John Thompson at Georgetown University. When Ewing announced his intention to play at Boston College or Boston University, the supporters erupted; when Ewing announced his intent to play for Boston College or Boston University. During his recruiting visit, Ewing was close to signing a letter of intent to play for Dean Smith and the University of North Carolina, but on his recruiting trip, he saw a Ku Klux Klan rally nearby, which discouraged him from attending. In total, Ewing made six recruiting visits; he also visited UCLA and Villanova.

Ewing, a freshman in 1981-82, became one of the first college players to join and play on the varsity team as a freshman. In that year, Ewing led the Hoyas to their second Big East tournament title and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas advanced to their first Final Four since 1943, where they defeated the University of Louisville 51-46 to set up a showdown in the NCAA Final against North Carolina. Ewing was called for goaltending five times in the first half (later revealed to be intentional at the behest of coach John Thompson), setting the tone for the Hoyas and making his presence felt. The Hoyas led late in the game, but North Carolina took the lead after a shot by future NBA star Michael Jordan. Georgetown still had a chance of winning the game in the final seconds, but Freddy Brown mistakenly gave the wrong call to opposing player James Worthy.

For the 1982–83 season, Ewing and the Hoyas were the country's second-ranked team. With #1 ranked Virginia and their star center Ralph Sampson, an early-season showdown was called the "Game of the Decade." Virginia's veteran team won, 68–63, but Ewing slammed right over Sampson at one point, establishing Ewing as a dominant "big man." The Hoyas set a 22–10 record for the season and made another NCAA Tournament appearance, but Georgetown was defeated in the second round of the tournament by Memphis State. This will be the only season in Ewing's Georgetown career where they did not make it at least as far as the National Championship game.

Ewing led Georgetown Georgetown to the Big East tournament championship, the Big East tournament championship, and another top seed in the NCAA Tournament in 1983-1984. He was also named as the Year's Best Big East Player of the Year. For the third time in school history (and second time with Ewing), the Hoyas advanced to the Final Four against Kentucky, a team that had never lost a national semifinal game and was led by Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin. Georgetown was able to convert a late 12 point deficit into a 53-41 victory, advancing to the National Championship Game. The Hoyas advanced to the University of Houston, led by future Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. With an 84–75 win, Ewing and Georgetown earned the school their first and only NCAA Championship in school history. Ewing was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Georgetown was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the bulk of the campaign during Ewing's senior year in 1984–85. Ewing was named Big East Player of the Year once more, and the team won the Big East tournament championship for the second time this year. They ranked as the top overall seed of the East Region's East Region in the NCAA tournament, where they would advance to another Final Four for the third time in four years. Georgetown faced St. John's and Chris Mullin in their National Semifinal game, the fourth meeting between the schools this year. The Hoyas swept the Redmen 77–59, putting them up against another Big East opponent, Villanova, who is unranked for the title. Georgetown was defeated by the Wildcats 66–64, who shot a record 78.6 percent (22 of 28) from the ground, knocking out back-to-back titles from the ground, deposing Ewing and Georgetown. Ewing received the Naismith Player of the Year Award and the Associated Press Player of the Year at the end of the year.

Ewing's four-year college career has been named as one of the most competitive college programs of all time. Among his many accomplishments, he helped Georgetown win three Big East tournament titles, four Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was named a first-team All-American three times. He left a cultural footprint on the game in a variety of ways. He was one of the first freshmen to not only start but also lead a major college basketball team, something unheard of back in his time. In addition, he began wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt underneath his jacket, which started a young fashion trend among young athletes that has endured to this day.

NBA career

In the 1985 NBA draft, Ewing was projected to be the top pick. By doing so, the team that selected him would be making history by doing so. The NBA draft was run in a similar manner from 1966 to 1984, in which teams were selected draft positions based on winning percentages. The difference was that instead of the team with the lowest percentage being rewarded the top pick, the NBA had a coin toss between the teams with the worst attendance in each conference and the loser automatically choosing second, with the loser selecting second. This allowed teams to purposefully miss games in order to raise their draft position and potentially leap into the coin toss. The only way two teams from the same conference could have made the first two picks would have been if one of the two aforementioned teams traded their pick to another team (as the Indiana Pacers had done with what eventually became the top pick in the previous year's draft).

The NBA treated issues differently from the 1985 draft to 1990. Every team that qualified for the playoffs received honors based on their winning percentage, as well as the ones that did not participate in a lottery. The NBA did not determine the positions in the first lottery as they now do. In this case, the seven teams that did not qualify for the playoffs had each a chance to earn the top pick. Each team's name and logo were stamped in an envelope, and the envelopes were turned into a hopper and spun to shuffle them. Once finished, Commissioner David Stern pulled an envelope from inside to see who would be first to select first. Stern's envelope, which will cause controversies for years to come, contained allegations that the draw was rigged; Stern had also grown up a Knicks fan, triggering claims that it would be a jumbled. As expected, the Knicks drafted Ewing, who is now 15 years old, kicking off a 15-year association. They eventually agreed to a 10-year, $32 million deal, one that The New York Times described as "a tremendous deal at that time or any time."

Despite the fact that injuries marred his first year in the league, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year and assigned to the NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. He was dubbed one of the league's best centers right away. Ewing had a fruitful career, with eleven times named an NBA All-Star, six times as a member of the All-NBA First Team, and three times a member of the NBA All-Defensive Second Team; and three times to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. He was a member of the original Dream Team at the 1992 Olympic Games. He was also named one of the Top 50 Most Valuable Players in NBA History.

The Knicks defeated the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In Game 1, Ewing was unstoppable, with 34 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocks, and the Knicks defeated Chicago 94–89. In Game 6, Ewing had one of his career's best games. The team was trailed 3–2 in the series, and Ewing was limited mentally by a bad ankle sprain, but the Bulls defeated the Bulls 100–86 by scoring 27 points. Marv Albert, a cable television presenter, dubbed it a "Willis Reed-type appearance," but the Knicks were ruled out in Game 7 in a landslide, 110–81.

In a 1993 game between the Knicks and the Charlotte Hornets, the 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) was a point of embarrassment when Muggsy Bogues, the Hornets' 5-foot-3-inch (1.60 m) point guard, was able to block his shot. With a 2–0 lead over Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the team seemed to be on the verge of qualifying for the NBA Finals. Both teams played well, with each winning on its home court in the first four games. However, the Bulls stunned the Ewing-led Knicks by winning Game 5 in New York 97-94 after Ewing's teammate Charles Smith was repeatedly blocked low by Bulls defenders on the game's last possession. The Bulls will then win Game 696-88 and then claim their third straight NBA title. Despite the fact that the Knicks had the best regular-season record in the NBA at 60–22 and second-best record in the NBA, behind the Phoenix Suns, who were 62-20.

1993–94 was considered a wide-open year in the NBA, and Ewing had predicted that 1994 would be the Knicks' year. He was a key contributor to the Knicks' 1994 NBA Finals, in which the Knicks, in the first time since 1973, lost to Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets in the final seconds of Games 6 and 7. To reach the Finals, the Knicks, with Ewing leading them, had to survive a grueling climb through the playoffs. In the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals, they defeated the Bulls and Scottie Pippen in seven games (all seven games were won by the home team) and defeated Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals, which took seven games to decide. The Knicks won Game 2 in Houston but decided against holding court at home, excluding Game 3 at the Garden. The Knicks then won the next two games to return to Houston, beating Houston 3–2. However, the Rockets triumphed in the next two games. Ewing set a record for the most blocked shots in a Finals series with 30 (later broken by Tim Duncan in 2003 with 32). He also set the NBA Finals record for most blocked shots in a single game, with eight (bested by Dwight Howard in 2009).

Ewing rimmed out in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals this year, resulting in a loss to the Indiana Pacers. Ewing and the Knicks were eliminated in five games by the 1995–96 Bulls, who played 72 games that year en route to their fourth championship in the 1995–96 season.

The Knicks defeated the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1997. Ewing was involved in a Game 5 brawl in which both teams' benches were active. The Knicks, who were up 3–1 in Game 5, were out of three games and were disqualified from the next three games.

Due to an injury, Ewing's career was almost over in the next season. Andrew Lang fouled Ewing during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center on December 20, 1997, when trying a dunk. Ewing stumbled awkwardly and landed with all of his weight on his shooting hand. The result was a severely strained wrist, with Ewing suffering a fractured skull, complete loss of the lunate bone, and torn ligaments. These injuries necessitated emergency surgery to prevent nerve damage, and Ewing suffered injuries that were normally reserved for victims of vehicular accidents, according to the author.

Ewing, who had only played 20 games in the previous ten seasons, missed the remainder of the season's remaining 56 games. However, he was able to recover quicker than anticipated, and as the playoffs began, Ewing was talking about returning. For the second year in a row, the Heat and Knicks met in the playoffs for the second year in a row. This time, the two teams met in the first round of the playoffs for the first time. The series came to a crucial fifth game, but the Knicks relived their loss to Miami a year earlier by beating the Heat in Miami 98–81. Ewing was recalled for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Pacers. However, the Knicks were unable to beat the Pacers in five games, and his presence was not strong.

Ewing and the Knicks were the East's eighth seed in a lockout-shortened season the following season. Despite fighting an achilles tendon injury, Ewing led the Knicks to another victory over the Heat in the first round, 3–2. He scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Game 5 of series-clinching Game 5. Despite Ewing's injury keeping him out of action, the Hawks followed them by sweeping the Atlanta Hawks and then defeated the Pacers in the Conference Finals in 6 games. The Knicks, on the other hand, were unable to complete their Cinderella run after losing in the Finals to the San Antonio Spurs 4–1.

In Ewing's last season with the Knicks in 1999-2000, the team came in third seed in the East, behind the Pacers and Heat. The team advanced to the Conference Finals for the third year in a row, sweeping the Toronto Raptors and beating the Heat for the third year in a row. The Pacers lost in six games. Ewing led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in his last season with the Knicks. Ewing played in his 1,000th NBA game in his Knick career, ending his Knick career with a franchise-record 1,039 games played in a Knick uniform (he was the only player to play 1,000 games with the Knicks).

In 2000, he joined the Knicks as part of a trade to the Seattle SuperSonics. The Knicks traded Ewing and Chris Dudley to Phoenix, and received Glen Rice, Luc Longley, Travis Knight, Vladimir Stepania, Lazaro Borrell, Vernon Maxwell, two first-round draft picks from Seattle (from the Los Angeles Lakers and Seattle) and two second-round draft picks from Seattle. On September 18, 2002, after a year with the SuperSonics and another with the Orlando Magic, he announced his retirement. He started working with the Washington Wizards as an assistant coach during the season.

Ewing averaged 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game in 1,183 games over 16 seasons, with some players having better than 50% shooting percentages. With 24,815 points, Ewing ranked 23rd on the NBA scoring list as of 2021.

In 2001, Ewing testified in the Atlanta's Gold Club prostitution and fraud federal trial. Thomas Sicignano, the company's owner, confirmed that he arranged for dancers to have sex with professional athletes. Ewing confessed to going to the club, where he was granted oral sex twice. Ewing was never charged with a felony.

Ewing appeared in 1,039 games for the Knicks. In a large reception at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2003, his jersey number 33 was retired by the team.

For the first time ever, Ewing appeared for the Knicks in the NBA draft lottery on May 14, 2019. They were the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

Coaching career

Ewing served as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards from 2002 to 2003 under former Wizard Michael Jordan's ownership. Ewing was a Houston Rockets assistant from 2003 to 2006 before resigning to spend more time with his family. Ewing was one of four assistants hired to serve under first-year Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy for the 2007–08 season on July 3, 2007.

The Magicians reached the 2009 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 7 of the second round of the defending Boston Celtics, he correctly predicted a victory. In Game 4, Ewing saw Magic captain Dwight Howard record for most blocked shots in a single Finals game, beating the previous record of eight by Ewing himself in Game 5 of the 1994 Finals.

In 2010, Ewing was given the opportunity to mentor his son Patrick Ewing Jr. in the 2010 summer league. Ewing Jr. appeared in the Magic.

In 2013, Ewing joined the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) as an assistant coach. After Ewing's return to the Bobcats as interim head coach Steve Clifford after heart surgery on November 8, 2013, she became the team's interim head coach. He lost his first game 101-91 against the Knicks, his former team.

Ewing was hired as head coach of his former college team, the Georgetown Hoyas, on April 3, 2017. The Hoyas were 15–15 (5–13 in the Big East) in their first season as head coach. There was no tournament action in the fall until the season was over. Georgetown went 19–14 in Ewing's second season and finished tied for third place in the Big East with a 9-9 record. The Hoyas were given a bid in the 2019 National Invitation Tournament, the first postseason tournament since 2015. James Akinjo was named the Big East Rookie of the Year, and Mac McClung and Josh Leblanc joined him on the Big East All-Freshman Team. The Hoyas lost in the first round of the 2020 Big East tournament in Ewing's third season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He led the Hoyas to the 2021 Big East Conference tournament championship as the eighth seed in the tournament in Ewing's fourth season. In the quarterfinals, the team defeated the first-seeded Villanova Wildcats. Georgetown defeated the Creighton Bluejays 73-48 in the championship game and qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division I basketball tournament. This was Georgetown's first NCAA appearance since the 2014-2015 season, breaking the university's longest NCAA drought in the modern era. Despite winning 6–25 and going winless in Big East Conference play in the 2022 Big East tournament, the Hoyas were unable to capitalize on the Hoyas' fifth season, winning by 0–19 in the regular season and a first-round loss in the 2022 Big East tournament.

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Awards and honors

• Rookie of the Year (1986)
• All-NBA First Team (1990)
• All-NBA Second Team (1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997)
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1988, 1989, 1992)
• 11-time All-Star; One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
• 2-time Olympic gold medalist (1984, 1992)
• 3-time All-American (1983–1985)
• NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player (1984)
• Naismith College Player of the Year (1985).
• AP College Player of the Year (1985)
• NABC Player of the Year (1985)
• Sporting News College Player of the Year (1985)
• Adolph Rupp Trophy (1985)
• No. 33 retired for the New York Knicks
• Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2008 as an individual and 2010 as a member of the Dream Team)
• NBA 75th Anniversary Team (2021)