Earlier this evening, ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley reported that the New York Knicks offered Patrick Ewing a job, a job that Ewing swiftly declined. The job was a coaching position, but not one you'd think the Knicks would offer the legendary, Hall of Fame center. The job that the New York Knicks offered to Patrick Ewing was...head coach of their D-League team. Ouch. The man has been an NBA assistant for nearly a decade now, and you offer him a position in the NBA's minor leagues? Huh? Begley's source, who is from Ewing's camp, said that Ewing was 'a little insulted' by the offer.
Patrick Ewing has been working an assistant coach since the 2002-03 season. He started with the Washington Wizards, moved to the Houston Rockets, and then most recently coached with the Orlando Magic. He is known for helping guide Yao Ming and Dwight Howard to stardom at the center position. This May he was not retained as an Orlando assistant, but did interview for two head coaching jobs (Charlotte and Portland). Does this resume sound like that of a man you hire to coach your minor league team? By the way, the reasons Ewing declined the position is because he wants to stay in the NBA and that he feels he's paid his dues. Those reasons of course surprise no one.
The worst part about this is that the Knicks have an opening on their coaching staff. Ewing is not in the running for the position though. Sources say the leading candidate for the job is LaSalle Thompson. Thompson was a center in the NBA from 1982-1997 and he played for the Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Denver Nuggets. He was the head coach of the now defunct San Diego Wildfire of the American Basketball Association during their only season (2000-01). In 2008, he was hired by Larry Brown to be part of his Charlotte Bobcats staff. He is Woodson's leading candidate because he played with Woodson on Kansas City from 1982-85.
So let me get this straight. The Knicks are clearly looking for an assistant with experience working with big men (AKA Amare Stoudemire). But they don't offer the job to Patrick Ewing. Instead, they offer him the lowly position of head coach of the Erie BayHawks, and their leading candidate for the assistant job has one-fourth of the coaching experience of Patrick Ewing. Wow, did the Knicks mess up on this one.
Hiring Patrick Ewing to help with Stoudemire should be a no-brainer for Mike Woodson. I don't care that you played five years with this other guy. The other guy didn't play for the Knicks, isn't beloved by every Knick fan from the mid 80s up until today, and isn't in the Hall of Fame. He doesn't have the coaching experience, and he was half the player Patrick Ewing was. I don't care if you don't know Ewing as well, you hire him and then get to know him. I know the saying is 'it's all about who you know,' but sometimes you give the job to the more qualified guy that you don't know. I think the entirety of Knicks Nation will agree with me, after reading this article, when I ask, the Knicks did what?
References
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/8364263/patrick-ewing-declines-new-york-knicks-d-league-offer-source-says
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ewing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaSalle_Thompson
No comments:
Post a Comment