Patrick Ewing’s career will be defined by his championship rings – or lack there of. Seventeen years in the league, 21 points and nearly 10 rebounds a season later, and only comments about the hardware on his hands are the only topic of debate a week after his retirement.
Are we being fair here?
Because in a few years when Reggie Miller, John Stockton, Alonzo Mourning and Karl Malone hang them up, they’ll be in the same company as Ewing –great players who never hoisted a championship banner for their team.
Ewing, a certain hall of famer, never truly got along with the fans in New York after countless unfulfilled promises and too many missed shots at the end of games. But to answer my above question, no we are not being fair.
Michael Jordan – a good enough reason in it of itself that Ewing doesn’t have a ring – had Scottie Pippen. Shaq and Kobe have cemented Laker Lore for the next few years. The championship teams of the 1970s for the Knicks had not only Walt Frazier, but Earl Monroe, Willis Reed and Bill Bradley just to name a few hall of famers.
When the verdict comes down on Ewing’s career, he will have played with the likes of Anthony Mason, Charles Smith, John Starks and Charles Oakley. Certainly solid if not good players in their own right, but none will even come close to the hall of fame.
Ewing came in at the wrong time and perhaps at the wrong place. He could never quite eclipse the Jordan era, and even when the right pieces of the puzzle were put around him (Larry Johnson, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell, Marcus Camby), New York was never able to pull it all together.
Perhaps if Ewing had gotten that type of talent earlier in his career rather than towards the end, the debate over where Ewing’s place belongs among the greats in NBA history wouldn’t be such a hot topic of debate.
The bottom line is Ewing had a great career. Night in and night out, he put up stellar numbers that were often taken for granted. He dominated the interior post, was an exceptional defender and year after year was the lone Knicks representative in the all-star game.
No, he didn’t pass the ball enough as he could have. But during that stage of his career, many would rather have Ewing drive the ball through the lane than have Greg Anthony hoist a shot from deep.
Consistently, he scored 21 points and pulled down nearly 10 rebounds a game for his entire career. He is among the elite centers in the history of the game, certainly among the top 10.
If we were to judge great players simply by their championship rings, then Mark Madsen and Randy Brown should be considered two of the elite players in the game. Get real.
Until that day, Ewing should go down as one of the greats of the game, regardless of the hardware on his hands.
Wesley Cheng is the site editor for NYKbasketball.com
