Patrick Ewing
Teams
New York Knicks - 1985-00
Seattle SuperSonics - 2000-01
Orlando Magic - 2001-02
Playoffs
Appearances - 14 (1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2002)
Conference Finals - 4 (1993,1994,1999,2000)
NBA Finals - 1 (1994)
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
Rookie of the Year - 1986
All-NBA First Team - 1 (1990,1993,1994)
All-NBA Second Team - 6 (1988,1989,1991,1992,1993,1995,1997)
All-NBA Third Team - 0 (1988,1996)
Hall of Fame - 2008
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Total Blocks - #8
Blocks Per Game - #11
Total Rebounds - #26
Total Points - #28
Points Per Game - #45
Rebounds Per Game - #66
League Leads
Total Blocks (#2-1988,1989,1991, #3-1992, #4-1989,1997, #5-1994)
Blocks Per Game (#2-1990, #3-1988,1989,1991, #4-1992)
Total Points (#3-1990,1991, #4-1992, #5-1993,1994)
Total Rebounds (#4-1997, #5-1990,1991,1992)
Rebounds Per Game (#4-1995, #5-1990,1991,1997)
Points Per Game (#3-1990, #5-1991,1992)
Field Goal Percentage (#4-1989)
During his 4-year career at Georgetown, Patrick Ewing led the Hoyas to the NCAA Championship Game 3 times, losing to Michael Jordan and North Carolina in 1982, beating Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston in 1984, and losing to Villanova in 1985. He averaged 15.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks in college, and was picked with the #1 overall pick by the New York Knicks in 1985.
Ewing missed 32 games due to injury as a rookie, but was still the runaway Rookie of the Year after averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds when he played. The next-best choice for top rookie that year was probably Manute Bol, who led the league with 5 blocks per game, but only averaged 6 rebounds and 3.7 points, so the award went to Ewing.
Ewing moved up into the ranks of the elite in just a few years, hitting his peak in 1989-90, when he set career highs in scoring with 28.6 per game and blocks with 4.0 per game, along with 10.9 rebounds, which was his career high at the time. It was also the only time in his career that he was named to the All-NBA First Team, missing out a couple of times later in his career because there were so many great centers who overlapped his career.
In 1992-93, Ewing set his personal best in rebounding with 12.1 per game, while also averaging 24.2 points and 2.0 blocks, and for the first time led the Knicks past the second round of the playoffs. New York had the top seed in the East, but they ran into Michael Jordan and the two-time defending champs in the Conference Finals, and they fell to the Bulls in 6 games.
With Jordan retired the next year, it looked like New York had a chance to finally break through and win a title, and after another of his trademark solid high-level regular seasons, Ewing led the Knicks through a tough playoff run, beating the Bulls and Pacers in 7 games each to advance to the Finals, where they lost a tough 7-game series to the Rockets.
Ewing continued to play at the same level for the next 3 years, but they were never able to make it back to the Finals during that time, falling in the second round in each of those seasons. In 1997-98, Ewing suffered a major wrist injury that caused him to miss most of the season, but he returned in the second round of the playoffs, but for the 4th straight year, that's as far as New York would advance.
Ewing finally started to slow down a bit the next year, with his scoring average dipping below 20 for the first time in his career, and his rebounding average dropping below 10 for the first time in a decade, but the Knicks were able to pull off 3 straight upsets in the playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals. Ewing, unfortunately, did not join them there, as he suffered an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the Finals, where the Knicks fell to the Spurs in 5 games.
New York kept the momentum going the next year, and after Ewing made a series-winning dunk over Alonzo Mourning in Game 7 of the second round, New York reached the Conference Finals for the 4th time in Ewing's career, but Indiana stopped their progress there, and Ewing was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics after the season, as the team was ready to move on and focus more on its younger players. He started for the Sonics for one year before playing a season as a backup in Orlando before retiring from the NBA.
Ewing had the misfortune of playing at the same time as many other dominant centers, including Shaq, Hakeem, and David Robinson, along with other superstars like Michael Jordan, which prevented him from being able to win a championship in the NBA. He averaged at least 20 points in each of his first 13 seasons, at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for 9 straight seasons in his prime, and at least 2 blocks per game in each of his first 14 seasons. Even though he never won a championship, Ewing is definitely one of the greatest to ever play the game.
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