Was Patrick Ewing an elite center?

[tsherkin]

He was obviously an elite center. That isn't really a debatable point. He had weaknesses, but I mean, he was an incredible defender, had some pretty damned good offensive seasons, etc. He didn't hit the upper bound of guys like Admiral, Dream and Shaq in his own era, but there was a mad glut of ATG talent at the 5 in the 90s, so it's not like it was a huge shame.

[GrindCityHustle]

Well there is an added debate that Hakeem was really a 4 but was so good that he dominated the 5.

Thanks for the input guys..keeps the work week sane and fun.

[DaPessimist]

If top 3 is elite, then yes.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Of course he was.

Though an interesting case could be made that he wouldn't make the All NBA team at Center if he was playing currently (Assuming you count all 4 of Ewing, Embiid, Jokic, and AD as Centers, and only 3 centers can make the all nba teams).

Don't get me wrong though, he's obviously elite and his numbers would definitely look better in this era, and he would be in the conversation for best Center in the league pretty much every season, and would end up making more all NBA teams in this era than he did during his time

[LewisnotMiller]

I voted Smits just because it made me chuckle, but he was much better than Smits.
Still, I'm an unabashed Hakeem Stan, so I struggle to see him at that level.

For me, Hakeem was a step above both Robinson and Ewing.

[Chuck Everett]

Patrick Ewing was better than David Robinson if you ask me. It's close, but Ewing was a warrior. If he played with Tim Duncan, he'd have championships too.

[hoosierdaddy34]

1st Tier: Olajuwon, Shaq

2nd Tier: Ewing, Robinson

3rd Tier: Mourning, Dikembe

4th Tier: Smits, Daugherty, Divac

[76ciology]

If he’s elite then that era is weak

Hakeem, Robinson, Shaq, Ewing, Mourning(Mutombo)
vs
Jokic, Embiid, Adebayo, Gobert, KAT(Ayton)

I pick the Ewing era for centers 10/10 times. Would you not?
It has arguably 2 top10 players of all time, 1 borderline top20 and 3 all time defenders.
How's that "weak"?
Ewing was a great player. Nothing less.
The best Knick I've ever seen, they were contenders with him, irrelevant when he left(this continues until today).
Great defender, when truly healthy his athleticism was a joy to watch.
He had a nice jumpshot and ofc he was a physical beast under the basket.
Ofc he wasn't Hakeem. But that's like comparing Gobert to Embiid for example. Gobert isn't Embiid.
Which means absolutely nothing. He's great on his own right.

Im referring to era, not just centers. Suddenly trying to compare it to a sample size favorable to you shows the weakness in your argument.

If Ewing is considered as an elite player of that era, then that era is weak. 4-5BPM player at his prime. If you are comparing him to Towns, who has reached 7.8BPM and he aint even at his prime yet.

Just think about it.. the guys being compared to Michael are mostly from this era. LeBron, Steph, Kobe and KD. The guy probably outside both era that can enter the conversation is Wilt chamberlain.

You don’t see Clyde Drexler, Hakeem or Shaq entering the GOAT conversation.

Ewing is more comparable to Nikola Vucevic. And if you have Nikola Vucevic as an elite player of an era, then maybe that era is weak.

[Chuck-Cheese]

Beaten by Ed Pinckney in college.
Broken promises about winning a championship in the pros.
Second or third tier center only.
Willis Reed was better.

Didn’t he beat Houston in the ncaa championship as a junior before losing to Villanova as a senior

[Onlytimewilltel]

Ewing is to Hakeem what Lillard is to Curry.

wow, that's actually good

[Tim Kempton]

Whats the tierlist for 90s Centers? Are Robinson and Olajuwon in the same tier? Where does Ewing rank among those 2?

The tiers are strange since there are levels within each tier, so let's do this with 1/2 tiers in between. This is for the early-mid '90s only.

Tier 1:
Olajuwon, Robinson

Tier 1 1/2:
Shaq (at the time)

Tier 2: Ewing

Tier 2 1/2: Mourning, Mutombo

Tier 3: Smits, Divac, Daugherty

Tier 4: Elden Campbell, Seikaly, Parish, Duckworth

[Ursusamericanus]

Easily elite. As most here have said, he was a notch below Hakeem, but there is no shame in that.

Get him a legit wing and he'd have won at least 2 titles IMO. 1994 would have been a given and then probably another, either in 1992, 1993, or 1997. With Starks as second option he was one shot from winning it all.

I will say, overall, he was probably better suited to being a 20/12 rugged defense-first center (i.e., a second option) rather than a 24/10 go-to guy, but the point still stands: he was elite. And his peak was scary good.

[NO-KG-AI]

He was obviously an elite center. That isn't really a debatable point. He had weaknesses, but I mean, he was an incredible defender, had some pretty damned good offensive seasons, etc. He didn't hit the upper bound of guys like Admiral, Dream and Shaq in his own era, but there was a mad glut of ATG talent at the 5 in the 90s, so it's not like it was a huge shame.

It's still amazing to me how many of those guys all came seemingly at once. My first real memories of the NBA are in like 1991-1992, so I didn't realize how big of a deal it was as a kid.

[KodiakBear]

Definitey an elite center in the early 90's. He fell off later, but was very good for about a 5 year stretch.

Terrible coach though. NBA teams were smart not to hire him. He literally might be the worst P6 college basketball coach in the country.

[Woodsanity]

If I ranked them point wise it would be:

Hakeem: 95
Robinson: 93
Ewing: 90-91

I love Ewing but he was a tier below.

[dautjazz]

Whats the tierlist for 90s Centers? Are Robinson and Olajuwon in the same tier? Where does Ewing rank among those 2?

I'd say peak Robinson is on Olajuwon's level, though Olajuwon had a better career. To be fair, Robinson entered the NBA very late, due to serving in the Navy two years (after four years of college basketball). Ewing is definitely on a tier below these two, but he was still an excellent two way center, with a nice mid range game. Smits was good, but Ewing is much closer to Robinson than Smits.

[Lalouie]

he was not a winner

[ForeverTFC]

This is like asking whether or not Vince Carter was a great dunker, Ewing was the best Knick ever no one ever brought excitement to the Garden like Pat.

I get the point you're making but Vince is the GOAT dunker while Ewing is a top 10 center candidate. There is a difference here that I just cannot scroll past

[Lalouie]

This is like asking whether or not Vince Carter was a great dunker, Ewing was the best Knick ever no one ever brought excitement to the Garden like PAT.
I get the point you're making but Vince is the GOAT dunker while Ewing is a top 10 center candidate. There is a difference here that I just cannot scroll past

holman knicks and clyde

but are you talking about ewing or riley, because that team was a pat riley team through and through,,,and i think you know riley enuf @knicks and @heat to understand what i mean

[HomoSapien]

It's sort of easy to forget how good Ewing was because there were better centers in his era and several better centers since, but he was damn good. At his best, he was the definition of "that guy's a problem." Even as a Bulls fan, I wish the Knicks built a better team around him. He was surrounded by elite role players but never given a great #2.

Trading a 23-year-old Rod Strickland for a 33-year-old Mo Cheeks is one of the most overlooked bad trades in NBA history. Strickland, though somewhat of a journeyman, would go on to become one of the best passers of that era and could have been the East's version of Stockton and Malone or Payton and Kemp.