50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
8. Patrick Ewing
New York Knicks 1985-2000, Seattle SuperSonics 2000-01, Orlando Magic 2001-02
Patrick Ewing was already something of a legend before he was the first overall draft pick by the New York Knicks in the 1985 NBA Draft, the first time the NBA rigged used a lottery to determine the first pick. Ewing had been the Final Four Most Outstanding Player as a junior and the Naismith Player of the Year as a senior at Georgetown.
He didn’t disappoint with the Knicks. He was the 1985-86 Rookie of the Year, was named to seven All-NBA teams, three All-Defensive squads and 11 All-Star games. He also finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting seven times, never higher than fourth (1988-89, 1992-93, 1994-95).
But New York didn’t make the playoffs until his third season, 1987-88, and when they got there, they were bounced in the first round by the Boston Celtics.
In 1989, the Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers before losing in six games to the Chicago Bulls. The following year brought another second-round exit, this one in five games to the defending champion Detroit Pistons.
New York went down in a first-round sweep to the eventual champion Bulls in 1991 and went the distance in two series in 1992, beating the Pistons in a Game 5 in the first round and going down to defending champion Chicago in a Game 7 in the second round.
The Knicks took the next step in 1993, with wins over the Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets before a six-game loss in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Bulls.
In 1994, New York beat the New Jersey Nets and needed Game 7s to take care of Chicago in the second round and the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Ewing’s first trip to the NBA Finals also lasted seven games, with the Houston Rockets winning Game 7.
The Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers before losing a Game 7 to Indiana in the second round in 1995. The following year saw a sweep of Cleveland and a five-game loss to eventual champion Chicago in the second round.
New York swept the Hornets in the first round before losing a Game 7 to the Miami Heat in the second round in 1997. In 1998, the Knicks upset favored Miami in a first-round Game 5 before they went down to Indiana in the second round.
In 1999, the Knicks made a run, but did much of it without Ewing, who injured his Achilles in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference against Indiana after the eighth-seeded team had knocked off Miami in a Game 5 in the first round and swept the Atlanta Hawks in the second round. The Knicks reached the Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, but Ewing did not play.
In 2000, New York swept the Toronto Raptors, upset the Heat in a second-round Game 7 and lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Pacers.
In September 2000, the unthinkable happened as Ewing was swapped to Seattle as part of a four-team deal that also included the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns and featured 13 players and five draft picks.
The Sonics missed the postseason—the first time Ewing had not played playoff basketball since 1987.
In July 2001, Ewing signed as a free agent with the Magic, who lost in the first round to Charlotte.
Ewing retired in September 2002.
He is currently 20th on the all-time scoring list with 24,815 points and is sixth all-time with 2,894 blocked shots.
Ewing is currently the associate head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, a post he’s held since 2013. He has also been an assistant with the Washington Wizards, Rockets and Magic. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
The final tally on Ewing’s playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-1
Conference Finals: 2-2
Conference Semifinals: 4-7
First Round: 11-3
Next: 7. Lost To LeBron