Was Patrick Ewing overrated?

[Shock Defeat]

for a center, he was never efficient. Put up 23.5 points on 51% career shooting. His production declined in the playoffs. He only averaged 22 PPG and shot woefully under 50% in the postseason. This is really bad, even in the finals against hakeem, he laid an egg. He shot 36% from the field. Imagine if he showed up, Knicks would have beaten the Rockets in 7 games.

Ewing was overrated, he seemed like a soft inefficient jumpshooter. A LaMarcus Aldridge on the offensive end. Defensively was he even that good, never made all nba defense 1st team.

[BigtimeNBAfan]

What was he rated as? Nobody said Ewing was the best center of his era. He was an all star who was the first option on a team that won 50+ games repeatedly from 89-00. I've never heard Ewing talked about as being one of the all time greats. He has been talked bout as being a good player in a much better era for the Knicks. I'd say he is properly rated.

[subbed sub]

If anything he's underrated

[Najee12]

for a center, he was never efficient. Put up 23.5 points on 51% career shooting. His production declined in the playoffs. He only averaged 22 PPG and shot woefully under 50% in the postseason. This is really bad, even in the finals against hakeem, he laid an egg. He shot 36% from the field. Imagine if he showed up, Knicks would have beaten the Rockets in 7 games.

Ewing was overrated, he seemed like a soft inefficient jumpshooter. A LaMarcus Aldridge on the offensive end. Defensively was he even that good, never made all nba defense 1st team.

Unfortunately, the anonymity of the internet allows people to make bad takes with no consequences. You sound like someone who never saw Patrick Ewing play, much less understand the statistics you're reading.

[Lockdown504090]

He was pretty banged up with the knees, when he was right, dude was a total beast though. i wouldnt call him overrated at all. He might even be underrated due to all the center talent in the nba at the time.

[Lalouie]

for a center, he was never efficient. Put up 23.5 points on 51% career shooting. His production declined in the playoffs. He only averaged 22 PPG and shot woefully under 50% in the postseason. This is really bad, even in the finals against hakeem, he laid an egg. He shot 36% from the field. Imagine if he showed up, Knicks would have beaten the Rockets in 7 games.

Ewing was overrated, he seemed like a soft inefficient jumpshooter. A LaMarcus Aldridge on the offensive end. Defensively was he even that good, never made all nba defense 1st team.

yes. he would have been an almost walt bellamy if not for playing in NYC.
but interesting how this has become a topic over the past few weeks.

[Najee12]

yes. he would have been an almost walt bellamy if not for playing in NYC.
but interesting how this has become a topic over the past few weeks.

Walt Bellamy was more like Dwight Howard -- a talented big man whom people thought was not dedicated to playing, hence bouncing to ffive teams.

Patrick Ewing was the opposite of Bellamy and Howard -- a relentless, intimidating player who played through injuries and shortfalls while making bold predictions that galvanized the Knicks fan base. The Ewing era brought the Knicks franchise to the NBA consciousness after years of poor play in the post-1970s championship runs.

I have no idea what is this interest in people on this board have with trying to redefine Ewing and Karl Malone's careers, especially when many of them never saw Ewing and Malone play and have no context on how to evaluate them.

[Lalouie]

yes. he would have been an almost walt bellamy if not for playing in NYC.
but interesting how this has become a topic over the past few weeks.

Walt Bellamy was more like Dwight Howard -- a talented big man whom people thought was not dedicated to playing, hence bouncing to seven teams.

Patrick Ewing was the opposite of Bellamy and Howard -- a relentless, intimidating player who played through injuries and shortfalls while making bold predictions that galvanized the Knicks fan base.

i'm talking about where in the hierarchy of centers. bellamy was behind wilt, russell, and nate at least.
as was pat ewing no matter which decade you choose, but everyone talks about ewing like was heads and shoulders above which is all because he played in new york. you deny the nyc media had anything to do with this?

and he made a bold post-messier prediction that he FAILED on, like a lot of other in-game flubs that pock-marked his career

[70sFan]

No, he's cleary in top 10 centers of all-time which is by far the best and deepest position in NBA history. He's one of the best defensive players ever who was also valuable offensively to the point that he could be 1st option on contender.

[Najee12]

i'm talking about where in the hierarchy of centers. bellamy was behind wilt, russell, and nate at least.
as was pat ewing no matter which decade you choose, but everyone talks about ewing like was heads and shoulders above which is all because he played in new york. you deny the nyc media had anything to do with this?

I was a journalist who covered the NBA when Patrick Ewing played and saw his collegiate and NBA careers play out. Ewing is considered one of the best collegiate basketball players ever, putting the Georgetown program (and the Big East Conference) on the map and leading the Hoyas to three national championship games. Ewing was considered a major draw coming out of college, and it had nothing to do with the Knicks drafting him.

Ewing wasn't a Jeremy Lin-type media creation, but a premier ballyhooed NBA prospect with expectations of being nothing short of an all-time great (the general expectation for Ewing was "become the next Bill Russell or bust"). This topic is an example of the expectations placed on him -- even though Ewing was a slam dunk first-ballot hall of famer and perennial top-five MVP candidate from 1989 through 1996, there are some people who thought he never quite lived up to those unrealistic expectations.

Ewing was an elite player (top 10) in his prime, but the general consensus is outside of maybe 1990 Hakeem Olajuwon was better than him during their collective run in the league. When David Robinson came into the league in 1989, it took maybe two years for insiders and the general public to move The Admiral ahead of Ewing. When Shaquille O'Neal came into the league in 1992, it didn't take long for Shaq to surpass him.

Ewing was still an elite player, but there were three centers in the NBA who were considered even better than him. Olajuwon, Robinson and O'Neal had unprecedented skills and attributes, while Ewing had more conventional center qualities. In addition to the unrealistic expectations, Ewing had the misfortune of his career overlapping with three of the top seven centers in NBA history and Michael Jordan's Bulls dynasty.

Ewing is not a Walt Bellamy. Bellamy was just a good player who played a long time, had some runs on several marginal teams and had a reputation of not taking the game seriously (i.e. his lack of dedication). Ewing made New York a title contender in the 1990s and came within one game of leading the Knicks to the 1994 title with John Starks as arguably his best scoring teammate.

Ewing was a legitimate franchise cornerstone for his 15 years in New York; take away the Ewing era and the Knicks have not been relevant since the 1970s championship teams. Bellamy was a vagabond who spent most of his career hopping around to rebuilding teams, a la Dwight Howard when he left Orlando.

I would consider Ewing ahead of centers such as Bellamy (a four-time all-star), Howard (who has the same question marks as Bellamy) and Bob Lanier (an all-star who toiled on losing teams). Once you get past the first two tiers of centers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell are in my Tier I; Moses Malone, O'Neal, Olajuwon and Robinson are in my Tier II) and likely George Mikan, Ewing probably rates better than any other center in NBA history.

[Pennebaker]

for a center, he was never efficient. Put up 23.5 points on 51% career shooting. His production declined in the playoffs. He only averaged 22 PPG and shot woefully under 50% in the postseason. This is really bad, even in the finals against hakeem, he laid an egg. He shot 36% from the field. Imagine if he showed up, Knicks would have beaten the Rockets in 7 games.

Ewing was overrated, he seemed like a soft inefficient jumpshooter. A LaMarcus Aldridge on the offensive end. Defensively was he even that good, never made all nba defense 1st team.

I don't think so. Look at these years:



And that's when the pace of the league was super slow.

His per 100 possession stats must be impressive.

Ewing would've won multiple titles if Jordan made good on his threats and left the Bulls for the Knicks in the late 80s or the mid 90s.

[jlokine]

just because ppl are averaging 28-30 ppg now when teams are scoring 120+ pts on the regular doesnt mean the guy is not as good cause he averaged 23 ppg during a time when teams played defense.

[Najee12]

Ewing would've won multiple titles if Jordan made good on his threats and left the Bulls for the Knicks in the late 80s or the mid 90s.

If Patrick Ewing had another dependable scorer alongside him, those 1990s Knicks teams may have beaten some of those Bulls teams even with Michael Jordan playing for Chicago. The Ewing-led Knicks were arguably the Bulls' greatest opponents during the 1990s and typically played the Bulls the toughest, such as the 1992 Eastern Conference finals. They were a rugged, physical team that pounded teams on defense but had troubles scoring outside of Ewing.

There was a noticeable dropoff between Ewing and the second-best scorer on those Knicks teams -- first Charles Oakley (never a big scorer) and Gerald Wilkins (complementary player), then an aging Kiki Vandeweghe and ultimately a streaky John Starks (who likely would have been better suited as a fourth option). Maybe if Starks shot a somewhat more customary percentage in Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals instead of going 2 for 18 from the field, Ewing would have won an NBA title.

[Capn'O]

His offense is a little overrated but his career efficiency took a hit after his wrist injury in "97 that basically took away his fadeaway while his athleticism was fading. Prior to this, a very efficient player.

Defensively, he was the definition of an anchor. With today's cast of centers he'd make all defensive first team annually. Especially early in his career where he could press with the best of them.



Put another way - where does John Starks rank on your all time list? That was his best second option during his prime years. Ewing was great. Deal.

[Najee12]

His offense is a little overrated but his career efficiency took a hit after his wrist injury in "97 that basically took away his fadeaway while his athleticism was fading. Prior to this, a very efficient player.

Defensively, he was the definition of an anchor. With today's cast of centers he'd make all defensive first team annually. Especially early in his career where he could press with the best of them.

The ironic thing is the biggest concern about Patrick Ewing coming into the NBA was his offense. He didn't show he had refined offensive weaponry at Georgetown and the concern was Ewing would be an elite defender but a limited offensive player. But Ewing showed he could score better than expected as a rookie, and by the early 1990s, he developed that turnaround fadeaway that made him very difficult to defend.

I don't understand some of these people on this board. On one hand, they are questioning how good were players such as Ewing and Karl Malone, but yet they overrate some guy averaging 8 points and 6 rebounds per game because of an outlier advanced metric. It doesn't sound like a lot of them understand how to evaluate players or have any perspective of how good a player is or isn't.

[NBAFan93]

Not at all. If anything he’s underrated. He was one of the most complete and talented players of his era. I’d comp is as being as good as KD - not same player, but same level of player.

[BigtimeNBAfan]

Yeah who is overrating him? It isnt like he is talked about as a top 10 player ever. He has been fairly ranked by most people. Maybe underrated since bill simmons has pushed his ewing theory on the world and brings it up constantly even though it is bunk. Ewing was the anchor of a 50+ win franchise for over a decade. Many people in 2000 actually argued they would be better after he left yet they were terrible almost immediately and have only won 1 playoff series in 20 years since he last played there. Only one 50 win season as well when it was a regular thing for the ewing led knicks.

[ThumbsUpBaby]

for a center, he was never efficient. Put up 23.5 points on 51% career shooting. His production declined in the playoffs. He only averaged 22 PPG and shot woefully under 50% in the postseason. This is really bad, even in the finals against hakeem, he laid an egg. He shot 36% from the field. Imagine if he showed up, Knicks would have beaten the Rockets in 7 games.

Ewing was overrated, he seemed like a soft inefficient jumpshooter. A LaMarcus Aldridge on the offensive end. Defensively was he even that good, never made all nba defense 1st team.

Is this serious? Last I checked, if you make any All-NBA defense teams, you're considered some of the best defenders in the league. As far as I'm concerned, he's made 3 of them.

Furthermore, how is he overrated? Many has him at the top 10 Centers, outside of the top 5. And he's also easily a top 50 player... not many are rating him beyond Top 30 as far as I know.

And calling him "a LaMarcus Aldridge" on the offensive end tells me all I know with your knowledge on Patrick Ewing.

[NPZ]

i'm talking about where in the hierarchy of centers. bellamy was behind wilt, russell, and nate at least.
as was pat ewing no matter which decade you choose, but everyone talks about ewing like was heads and shoulders above which is all because he played in new york. you deny the nyc media had anything to do with this?

I was a journalist who covered the NBA when Patrick Ewing played and saw his collegiate and NBA career play out. Ewing is considered one of the best collegiate basketball players ever, putting the Georgetown program (and the Big East Conference) on the map and leading the Hoyas to three national championship games. Ewing was considered a major draw coming out of college, and it had nothing to do with the Knicks drafting him.

Ewing wasn't a Jeremy Lin-type media creation, but a premier ballyhooed NBA prospect with expectations of being nothing short of an all-time great (the general expectation for Ewing was "become the next Bill Russell or bust"). This topic is an example of the expectations placed on him -- even though Ewing was a slam dunk first-ballot hall of famer and perennial top five MVP candidate from 1989 through 1996, there are people who thought he never quite lived up to those unrealistic expectations.

Ewing was an elite player (top 10) in his prime, but the general consensus is outside of maybe 1990 Hakeem Olajuwon was better than him during the collective run in the league. When David Robinson came into the league in 1989, it took maybe two years for insiders and the general public to move The Admiral ahead of Ewing. When Shaquille O'Neal came into the league in 1992, it didn't take long for Shaq to surpass him.

Ewing was still an elite player, but there were three centers in the NBA who were considered even better than him. Olajuwon, Robinson and O'Neal had unprecedented skills and attributes, while Ewing had more conventional center qualities. In addition to the unrealistic expectations, Ewing had the misfortune of his career overlapping with three of the top seven centers in NBA history and Michael Jordan's Bulls dynasty.

Ewing is not a Walt Bellamy. Bellamy was just a good player who played a long time, had some runs on several marginal teams and had a reputation of not taking the game seriously (i.e. his lack of dedication). Ewing made New York a title contender in the 1990s and came within one game of leading the Knicks to the 1994 title with John Starks as arguably his best scoring teammate.

Ewing was a legitimate franchise cornerstone for his 15 years in New York; take away the Ewing era and the Knicks have not been relevant since the 1970s championship teams. Bellamy was a vagabond who spent most of his career hopping around to rebuilding teams, a la Howard when he left Orlando.

I would consider Ewing ahead of centers like Bellamy (four-time all-star), Howard (who has the same question marks as Bellamy) and Bob Lanier (all-star who toiled on losing teams). Once you get past the first two tiers of centers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell are in my Tier I; Moses Malone, O'Neal, Olajuwon and Robinson are in my Tier II) and likely George Mikan, Ewing probably rates better than any other center in NBA history.

I was a Laker/NBA fan for much of Ewing's career, saw him play the Lakers twice at The Forum in his Knick years. He wasn't overrated by any stretch. He had his woes in clutch situations. That's the one thing that wasn't his forte. You put up a layup that falls out at the buzzer of a Gm 7 and that'll happen to you. However, he was one of the big 5 centers of his day. May have been the 5th of 5, but that still would make him a lock as a top NBA player.

I just find it funny that Walt Bellamy is in this convo. This thread has been Waltered. It's rare for Millenns and Gen Zs to Walter a thread themselves, it generally takes a Boomer to Walter a thread. I know more about RALPH Bellamy (aka Randolph Duke from Trading Places; also in the original The Wolf Man) than Walt Bellamy.

[slamilcarBarca]

Not at all. If anything he’s underrated. He was one of the most complete and talented players of his era. I’d comp is as being as good as KD - not same player, but same level of player.

disagree. ewing was a reasonably strong replica of predecessors.

KD is unprecedented.