Patrick Ewing

After 15 years of dedicated service, it appears that Patrick Ewing's days as a New York Knick are coming to a close.

Wow.

It's sad, really. Ewing worked so hard in his quest to bring New York an NBA championship, but not only did he fail in doing so, his career will probably wrap up in another city. Scott Layden has requested and received a list of teams Ewing is willing to be traded to (his contract states that he must approve the team he gets sent to if traded). It appears that Ewing will likely become a Seattle Supersonic, with Vin Baker moving to the Big Apple. A multi-team deal just fell through, but as long as the Sonics and Knicks really want to make this happen they can probably pull it off without the aid of other teams.

As hard as Ewing worked, he always felt that the New York media and fans were never really on his side. Win and receive praise, but lose and immediately be subject to doubt, disdain and blame.

New York has had lots of sports heros. Babe Ruth. Mickey Mantle. Joe DiMaggio. Lawrence Taylor. Joe Namath. Mark Messier. Walt Frazer. Willis Reed. And more. But unlike Ewing, they all managed to win championships in their respective sports. Also unlike Ewing, they were all, for the most part, loved and worshipped.

No one can claim that Ewing was ever safe from harsh criticism when things didn't go his or the team's way.

The other heros had great supporting casts, though. Ewing never did. His early days in New York were spent with guys like Mark Jackson, Gerald Wilkins, and Johnny Newman. Kiki Vanderweigh spent his post-prime years in New York. So did Rolando Blackman, and other former "very good" players. Anthony Mason grew a lot as a Knick, but he was no superstar. John Starks and Charles Oakley both made the NBA All-Star team, but neither guy was a superstar. Not even close. Larry Johnson was traded to New York and his game immediately sank down to the level of his various injuries. It was always Pat and a few "very good" and a lot of "ok" players, at best.

Now, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston are Knicks, but they unfortunately came along a bit too late in Ewing's career. If Pat was about 8 years younger, this current team would have a lot of potential. But the slow, plodding current version is still a good center but no longer the type of star that would destroy opposing teams with the likes of Sprewell and Houston helping out.

Ewing may never have received devoted love from fans and the media, but he never appeared to be seeking it, either. Never embracing the media, and always seemingly hiding behind a mask designed to keep everyone at a distance, Ewing treated his job as a, well, job.

New York wanted more than a devoted, hard worker. They wanted passion from their sports hero, on and off the court. 

One out of two isn't good enough in New York.

As for now, very few believe that the current Knicks squad can pull off a championship. They came close in the lockout season, but when the team needed a center the most (against the Spurs), Ewing was injured. Now 38, he's nearing the end of the road. Since NBA centers are mostly subpar players, Ewing is still one of the best 5's around, but his declaration that after this season he planned to play for two more years resulted in a team management who had no idea how to react to the news other than to try to avoid discussing it.

Time for a breakup.

It'll be very strange seeing Ewing in another team's uniform. Knicks fans happy to see him go should always remember that he truly did play his heart out trying to bring home a championship. He also never quite had the supporting cast to pull it off. Almost, but his squads were always clearly lacking in one department or another.

What drives New York more than anything is heart and passion. Ewing gave the city both, for 15 years, not off the court, but definitely on it.

Pat. The warrior.

Assuming he does get moved, Knicks fans better give him the biggest, loudest, craziest standing ovation of all time when he returns to Madison Square Garden on a visiting team. He sometimes felt like a visitor there in the past. This time it'll be for real, and Patrick Ewing deserves to be treated like a beloved house-guest.

- Jeff -
InsideHoops.com

8/23/2000

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