Knicks great Patrick Ewing believes he can coach the team
Retired NBA great and New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing is joining the wagon of personalities who are becoming increasingly concerned with the fate of the franchise. Even the greatness of Phil Jackson hasn't stopped the once-proud Knicks of spiraling down season after season. And with interim head coach Kurt Rambis not getting the nod as permanent head coach, it looks like Ewing is more than interested in interviewing for the job.
The Jamaican-American Hall of Famer is no stranger to coaching. After 15 great seasons as a player, he successfully carved out his own niche as an assistant coach in the league. Although he currently is Steve Clifford's top assistant in Charlotte Hornets organization, he knows he's destined to be a head coach someday.
Talking to Stefan Bondy of New York Daily News about his desire to coach the Knicks, he believes he has what it takes. "You know, this is a great fit for me. I have my number up there," he said, referring to his jersey number retired by the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. He added that he has been in the head coaching profession for 13 years and that he even comes with a better resume compared to others who already got the chance to coach a team in the league.
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Interestingly though, the Knicks actually offered the 53-year old a head coaching job almost four years back, according to Yahoo Sports. But the offer was for him to coach the franchise's NBA D-League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks. He turned down the opportunity saying that he more than deserves a job at the NBA level and that accepting it would be a slight step back to his progress as a coach.
There are several former players who became active coaches in the league right now and some of them indeed have lesser years of experience compared to him. The most notable are Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Jason Kidd of the Milwaukee Bucks.
