Legacy
As any father would, Patrick Ewing speaks proudly of his son. He told me once that seeing his son, Patrick Jr., play in his first NBA game will be a prouder moment than when he will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall.
Patrick Jr. was a Knick even before he was a Hoya. The Little Fella was shooting hoops with the sons of other Knick players at the SUNY-Purchase gym and has the New York blood in him.
"Herb [Williams] and I were talking on the phone the other day," Ewing said Sunday night at the Garden. "You know, we were talking about my son being at practice, 10 or 11, and playing with Jacob -- JJ -- John's [Starks] son. While we were practicing, they were in the next gym playing. Now to see him as a man getting ready to graduate from college and possibly end up in the NBA, as a father you want the best for your child. You want them to succeed at whatever they choose to do. For him, it's basketball and naturally I want him to be successful at it."
Ewing, Jr., a 6-8, 235-pound forward, doesn't figure to be a first-round pick and could go undrafted. His primary skills at the NBA level would be defense and energy and if the Knicks had a second-round pick this year perhaps Donnie Walsh would take him just for a look (and some good karma). If anything, should Ewing, Jr. go undrafted, he should get a training camp invite.
In fact, it wouldn't be all that crazy of an idea to perhaps trade a player (say, Renaldo Balkman, who should have never been a first-round pick) for a second-rounder and select Ewing, Jr. Balkman and Ewing, Jr. have a similar skill set and Ewing, Jr. is clearly a better student of the game with far more of a work ethic and better size. He'd certainly be a fan favorite, if not from his name then his hustle, which drew regular ovations from the Garden crowd whenever Georgetown played here.
And then there's always this, which doesn't really mean anything other than show this kid has some serious athletic ability:
Patrick once told a funny story about the hard lessons his confident son has learned along the way. It was two summers ago when the Georgetown crew gathered for their legendary offseason run. A call came from Alonzo Mourning.
"Man, little Patrick tried to dunk on me!" Mourning said. "But I had to show 'em."
A short while later, Patrick Jr. called his pops.
"I tried to dunk on Alonzo," the son said, "and he just ate it all up."
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Comments (12)
* Ah, SUNY Purchase, used to go to Knicks' open house scrimmages there all the time when NYK was respectable and played for pride;
* The Profit Isiah is talking about his "legacy, his body of work." Delusional as he is, he can charm anyone with his smile and his words. Just watch your wallets.
* We need GUMMY BEAR.
Gummy Bear will be terrific in a Knicks' uniform.
* Good morning Gracie.
BTW, great dunk on that clip
Znake is sabotaging NYK's lottery position. Why win now after the "tanking business model?" Why win now since he knows his a$$ will be vaporized at season's end? That's the type of legacy this man will leave NYK. That's his typical body of work.
Candace Parker vs. Rebecca Fowles (spelling?)
Wow!!! Like Kareem vs. Artis Gilmore.
Some game last night in NCAA - W
Pat Summit's team can probably beat Zeke's team.
Lousy win last night. Its pretty typical of this franchise, they will probably win three more meaningless games, move behind the Clippers and end up with the sixth pick.
There are only two players in this draft who can make a significant impact on a franchise, and the Knicks shot at getting either get slimmer each day.
Walsh really needs to fire Isiah already. IT's stupid quotes just make him and the franchise look even dumber.
"Judge me on my body of work," Thomas said yesterday. Yes, we would all like him judged on that body of work, and fired!
A must read . . . .
http://nymag.com/news/sports/45787/
Nice article, hope to see another Ewing in a Knick jersey.
Just listened to another former Knick talk about to what his kid is going through. Johnny Newman had some good podcasts at http://www.sportsgist.com/johnnynewman go down on the right side and listen to the clips.
god, i had forgotten that the knicks second round pick went to portland along with frye. wil the nightmare ever end? our first round pick in 2010 (marbury deal) belongs to utah. there must be some law about this, isiah's actions were just criminal. perhaps he can be tried alongside bush-cheney-rumsfeld for war crimes/profiteering.
Was at last night's game. Nice to see Ewing getting another deserved Garden ovation. I caught him talking to Lee, Crawford and Morris during halftime shoot arounds, which was kind of cool to see.
I couldn't believe how into the game the crowd was. Tickets still must be going to people who've never been before and are just enjoying the actual game. I can't imagine that season ticket holders are really that excited about the Knicks losing ping pong balls.
And I'm assuming that the "Fire Isiah" chants have diminished because everyone assumes that it's a done deal.
Alan - Is it true that Balkman has questionable work ethic in practice? Heard that it's why he got limited minutes this season.
@DAVID-
thanks for the link to the great ny mag piece. while the subject line sounds like hyperbole to the uninitiated .... we know
it's really an understatement.
sec11rowH:
I don't know off-hand how much cash, if any, went to the Bulls to acquire Lard Butt Curry. However, consider the following:
* one of the 2 picks surrendered turned out to be LaMarcus Aldridge;
* the other pick became Joakim Noah. Or if there are Noah bashers out there (I know that there are many) then that picked could've been used to get Acie Law.
Criminal, convict, and belligerant Isiah completely and masterfully "devastated" the Knicks.
@ MAK
i would trade curry straight up for noah. seriously. as for aldridge, he is better than anyone on the knicks roster. quite a trade, huh?
the icing on the cake will be if kurt thomas gets a ring with the spurs this year.
Put Little Pat at the free throw line to shoot 20 shots. Needs 16 to qualify.
Then ask Little Pat to sink ten 12-footers off the window from each wing. Brick City, USA.
Circus dunks are the foolishness of sub par hockey writers.
Genuine foolishness is a blogger too ashamed to post under his name . . . who continues to read writers he doesn't value. Only a genuine fool makes it his life's only purpose to make life miserable for others where he's not wanted. A fool . . . or someone who's very sad and very lonely.