Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley couldn't beat Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994. This weekend, they will join him.
Those three basketball giants headline the 2008 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction class, which also includes Adrian Dantley, Elmwood Park's Dick Vitale, Cathy Rush and Bill Davidson.
Ewing doesn't need his credentials listed around here. Everyone knows that for 15 years, he was "the Man" who carried the Knicks and made them perennial contenders. If Ewing hadn't been here, Riley wouldn't have come and there probably wouldn't have been a Big Fella-Dream clash in the 1994 NBA Finals.
It's revisionist history, but the Knicks never should have moved Ewing in 2000. He should have finished his career as a Knick. His trade led to one salary cap mistake after another.
The major problem was Ewing wanted out. He got tired of hearing he was slowing down the team. Well, the Knicks have won zero playoff series and only made the playoffs twice since he left. As Knick fans have learned, you never realize what you have until it's gone.
You get the picture and have heard it all before. Now hear this: Ewing wants back. He has said it repeatedly. He still has a house in Bergen County and wants to return to the franchise he put on his back all those years. What are the Knicks waiting for?
They have had plenty of assistant coach positions available while Ewing was on the bench in Washington, Houston and now Orlando. His return to the Knicks is long overdue.
Last week, the Knicks acquired Patrick Ewing Jr.. It would be foolish and terrible public relations if he didn't make their roster. But for Ewing Sr. not to have a position is a PR disaster.
If the Knicks want to regain credibility they should bring back the Big Fella. He deserves a job with the Knicks as much as he deserves enshrinement into the Hoop Hall.
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