【Portrait】[NBA 75] Patrick Ewing - Center Textbook + Uncrowned King
In the 90s, the NBA center position was full of talent, and four of the league's top centers were known as the "Big Four". The criteria for becoming a super center forward are: status as the leader of the team, dominance in influence, and perennial "20+10" in statistics. Strong centers such as Monin and Mutombo are only younger brothers in front of the "Big Four".
Ewing is one of the Big Four and the only player in the Big Four without a championship title in his career.
In 1985, Patrick Ewing entered the New York Knicks as a top pick, and in his rookie season averaged 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.08 steals and 2.06 blocks, and was named the best rookie of the year. He has been with the Knicks until the 99-00 season. In his 15 seasons with New York, Ewing was named to the NBA All-Star Team 11 times, the All-NBA First Team in 1990, the All-NBA Second Team 6 times, the All-NBA Second Team three times, the All-NBA Defensive Second Team three times, and the Finals twice, once to the Rockets led by Olajuwon, one of the "Big Four", and once to David Robinson + the rising Duncan, who is also the "Big Four".
In the 00-01 and 01-02 seasons, the aging Ewing moved to the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic, and on September 18, 2002, Ewing officially announced his retirement. In 1996, he was selected as one of the NBA Top 50 Superstars, and in 2021, he was named to the NBA Top 75 Superstars.
Ewing played 1,183 career appearances with a total of 24,815 points, 21.0 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game, 2,894 blocks total, 50.4% from the field and 74.0% from the free throw line.
It is especially called the "center textbook" because as a center, there are no physical and technical deficiencies, height, strength, interior back, footwork, strategy, blocking, offensive and defensive skills are the top presence in the league's centers. Even the free throws, which the elders had a headache, were "so easy" for Ewing.
Ewing was born at a bad time, was suppressed by Jordan in the East at his peak, Jordan retired for the first time and reached the Finals and met the top three in NBA history, Olajuwon, and lost to Robinson + Duncan in the late career.
Personally, I think that the most likely team for the Knicks to win the championship during the Ewing period was in the 96-97 season, and there were Ewing, "Aunt" Johnson, Houston, Oakley, and Starks who could still win "20+10", but unfortunately they did not enter the Eastern Conference finals that year.
