Was Patrick Ewing really the best NBA prospect of all time?

[jkvonny]

Had he not gone to the Knicks per "Sterngate" I don't think the hype would be that remembered.

Or it'd be bigger. The 7 teams in the lottery all had equal odds of winning it. Maybe on some other team, Ewing does become a dynasty cornerstone. The Hawks, for example. They already had a 25-year old Dominique Wilkins who was about to lead the league in scoring that season(not to mention a 16-win swing), and also a young Doc Rivers and Kevin Willis. Add Ewing into the mix, and a Hawks team team that would win 57 games in 1987 may well be a contender.

Wow. True about the Hawks.
Imagine the Kings and Pacers as well? Reggie Miller, Smits and Ewing on Indiana!

[HomoSapien]

"Re: Was Patrick Ewing really the best NBA prospect of all time?"

Not even close.

Definitely not the best prospect, but I would say he was likely in the top 10 with Kareem, Walton, Lebron, Wemby, Duncan, Oden, Bird, and Johnson all being on the list as well.

oscar,,,shaq,,,thompson

if best is the criteria,,ewing is not on the list.

if you want ewing on any list with these guys the title should be "most ANTICIPATED prospect"

That’s what’s the OP means and is generally meant with threads like this. Who had the most hype entering the draft.

[prophet_of_rage]

Ring culture. SMH.

Ewing beat Olajuwon for.a championship. He was the next big man post Kareem and people thought he was the next Bill Russell.

Then they were stunned by his NBA offence.



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[Fencer reregistered]

ESPN's answer to the title question is "Yes", at least if the discussion is confined to the past 40 years.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/37996676/best-draft-prospect-bracket-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl-wnba#nba

[Stannis]

I honestly don't remember people calling him the best NBA prospect of all time.

But this was a time where 7 footers / centers were highly valued (much more than today). I don't think a post player, mid range guy like Patrick Ewing would be rated as highly today. Especially considering he was already injury prone and had bad knees in college.