Jeff Van Gundy, a former coach and assistant coach of the New York Knicks, said Patrick Ewing carried the team on a nightly basis.
“We have amnesia sometimes as Knick people [about] just how good Ewing was,” said Van Gundy.
Charles Oakley, Ewing’s teammate with the Knicks, said he forced bad shots instead of passing when he was double-teamed.
“The Bulls had Michael and we had Patrick,” Oakley said. “It’s like seeing Beyoncé and going to see someone trying to be Beyoncé. If Beyoncé is in town, everyone’s going to see Beyoncé. If Michael and Patrick are in town, everyone is going to see Michael.”
“A lot of guys who talk now didn’t say that stuff when they played basketball,” Ewing responded.
Ewing led the Knicks past the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan retired in 1994, but the Knicks fell to the Houston Rockets in seven games in the NBA Finals. In 1999, Ewing suffered an Achilles injury in the postseason and was out for the NBA Finals. The Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.
He never won a championship but Ewing is a Hall of Famer and the Knicks all-time leader in points and rebounds.
