Was Patrick Ewing an elite center?

[MarcusBrody]

Also the second option is flawed as while effective in the paint, Ewing did a lot of his damage offensively with his jumper.

[IAMZOOTED2]

The only easy answer is is Raps in 4, obviously. But guys on here have short-term memories that may not span back to the day when a young, Jamaican-born big man was a real force. Calling him like a Rick Smitts-type player is absurd. The same as saying it’s like Lillard to Curry.

Rude boys on here better pass that Dutchie acting like Ewing wasn’t a monster down low. How about axe some a the honeys who had to face ‘im?

[scrabbarista]

He's safely a Top 50 all-time player, so he clearly must've been elite at some point.

I don't put him on Hakeem's level, though, so I couldn't vote... Or... Raps in 4, I guess.

[SHAQ32]

If he’s elite then that era is weak

Great post '02 join date

[HMFFL]

Hakeem was the superior talent and Rick was a solid role player. Both the Knicks and Pacers didn't do enough to win.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[gavran]

Broken promises about winning a championship in the pros

Imagine that being a criteria. When gasping for straws goes wrong. Or goes pathetic rather.

[nate33]

Ewing was terrifying defensive presence in his first few years, but injuries quickly sapped his elite athleticism. His offensive skill developed throughout his career so that he was a very good shooter and crafty post player later in his career. Unfortunately, the overlap of him having technical offensive skill and imposing physical athleticism was fairly short - maybe 3 or 4 years from 88-91 or so. During those short years, he was pretty much in the same league as Hakeem and Robinson, maybe just a hair below. But he spent the rest of his late 20's and early 30's as jumpshooter who couldn't really score with extremely high efficiency. That guy was more of a rich man's Rik Smits (although he was always MUCH better than Smits defensively)

[ANTETOKOUNBROS]

Embiid is better now

[DCasey91]

I'd say yes. If not for a historically awful shooting performance from John Starks, Ewing would've ended up with the same number of rings as Hakeem. If Starks was even average, they win that game.

Game 7 was a disaster all around, Starks couldn’t hit water if he fell off a boat, Hakeem (fav player) had one of his greatest passing games, and of course ATG defence. I remember Maxwell, Cassell and Kenny having really good games too.

I think the main difference between the two was mobility and scoring resiliency.

But yeah if the Knicks had Reggie or god forbid MJ they’d be champs more than once imo.

[MaxZaslofskyJr]

Broken promises about winning a championship in the pros

... pathetic ....

Exactly! He was trying to pull a Joe Willie and fell flat on his face! Pathetic!

[NO-KG-AI]

Imagine being able to drop 28/11 on 55%, with 4 blocks and DPOY defense and people asking if you're elite. lmao.

[Tomtolbert]

During the 1993-94 season, there was plenty of debate of the big 4 centers: Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, and the newest addition in Shaq. Once Olajuwon got his 2 rings (and in the process, beat each of the other three in the playoffs), he became the consensus best center of that era.

[ArksNetsSince99]

I voted Raps in 4

The only time I can remember Ewing playing was at Taj Mahal Atlantic City (about 20y ago ) , he was playing high limit Black Jack and he was there with Larry Johnson (4 point play guy)

[KGtabake]

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.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

I voted Raps in 4

The only time I can remember Ewing playing was at Taj Mahal Atlantic City (about 20y ago ) , he was playing high limit Black Jack and he was there with Larry Johnson (4 point play guy)

If he were playing low limit BJ then you'd really have a story!

[DAWill1128]

I mean 7x the guy was a 1st or 2nd team All NBA, so 7 years he was considered a top 10 player. 10x he was considered a top 15 player. Thats elite. How many players historically have made 11x all-star appearances? Not a lot.

He raked in these accomplishments in an era where center was the most competitive position. Ewing, Hakeem, Robinson, Shaq, Mourning.

Career highlights and awards
As player:
11× NBA All-Star (1986, 1988–1997)
All-NBA First Team (1990)
6× All-NBA Second Team (1988, 1989, 1991–1993, 1997)
3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1988, 1989, 1992)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1986)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1986)

[Clyde Frazier]

Yes. Weak poll options but he was certainly closer to Hakeem than Smits.

[SacKingZZZ]

Yes. Yes he was. He was an elite PLAYER, regardless of position.

[RHODEY]

Ewing was terrifying defensive presence in his first few years, but injuries quickly sapped his elite athleticism. His offensive skill developed throughout his career so that he was a very good shooter and crafty post player later in his career. Unfortunately, the overlap of him having technical offensive skill and imposing physical athleticism was fairly short - maybe 3 or 4 years from 88-91 or so. During those short years, he was pretty much in the same league as Hakeem and Robinson, maybe just a hair below. But he spent the rest of his late 20's and early 30's as jumpshooter who couldn't really score with extremely high efficiency. That guy was more of a rich man's Rik Smits (although he was always MUCH better than Smits defensively)

No....Ewing was squarely on David Robinson's level but the balance was more on the skill (shooting)side with Ewing and the athleticism side with the Admiral. Both were maybe a half notch below Hakeem in their primes...And both probably had shorter primes due to injuries ..Not a bad thing at all since Hakeem is like a top 2 or 3 center of all time.

Smits is more comparable to a low rent post injury Porzingis.

[Dino353]

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.