Knicks bring back Patrick Ewing as a basketball ambassador
Spike Lee, left, and Patrick Ewing attend a game between the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden on March 23, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Knicks assembled a team they believe can compete for a long- elusive championship. Now they have reached into their past to bring one of their legends back into the fold.
They announced on Friday that Patrick Ewing has joined the organization as a basketball ambassador, assisting in both basketball and business operations.
“As I said the day my number 33 jersey lifted into the rafters at MSG, I will always be a Knick and I will always be a New Yorker,” Ewing said in a news release by the team. “I can’t wait to get started in this new position and to officially be back with the organization that I love so much. The Garden has always been my home and I’m looking forward to working with [Knicks president] Leon Rose, Coach [Tom] Thibodeau, the team and everyone else that makes this place so special.”
Ewing, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, made 13 years of playoff appearances for the Knicks, including two trips to the NBA Finals.
After his playing days came to an end in 2002, Ewing began a career in coaching. He worked as an assistant with Washington, Houston, Orlando and Charlotte before taking over as head coach at his alma mater, Georgetown, in 2017. When the university fired him in 2023, Ewing joined the Hornets as a consultant, where he’s been for two seasons.
As other coaches were hired and former players joined the organization, it seemed as if a hole remained with Ewing on the outside.
“The New York Knicks and Patrick Ewing are synonymous with one another, and we are humbled and excited to bring Patrick back home,” Rose said. “A monumental figure in New York basketball lore, Patrick brings a wealth of knowledge from his time both on and off the court that is unmatched. We are ecstatic that Patrick will once again be back in the blue and orange.”
Jamaal Lesane, chief operating officer of MSG Sports, said, “As someone who grew up a huge Knicks fan during the Patrick Ewing era, the entire Knicks organization and I couldn’t be happier that Patrick is back with the team in an official capacity.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
