Patrick Ewing is one of the most underrated players of his generation. Despite being considered one of the best big men of his era, one of the things fans hold against Ewing is his lack of an NBA championship.
Ewing’s biggest obstacle was that he played in the same era as Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. From 1991 to 1998, Jordan and Olajuwon won 8 NBA championships; Jordan winning 6 and Hakeem winning 2.
In fact, Ewing led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994, where they got beaten by Hakeem and the Houston Rockets. On top of that, Ewing and the Knicks were always the biggest threat to Michael Jordan and the Bulls, especially during their first three-peat.
But Ewing believes that he would dominate during this modern era of the NBA, reaching the heights of Michael Jordan. During an interview, Ewing spoke about the changing role of players his size in the NBA today.
He thinks that bigs are no longer willing to go into the paint and try to dominate using their size, something he would do often.
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“There’s not that many great centers. I’d be Michael Jordan in this era. It’s definitely changed, the way that teams play, the way that everybody spreads the floor. Most big guys, instead of posting up, they want to get out and shoot 3s.”
Ewing was a revolutionary big man, being able to move with a speed that few other bigs in the NBA could boast. On top of that, he is considered one of the best players in the history of the New York Knicks.
As the game has evolved in the modern NBA, the responsibilities of a big man in the NBA have changed drastically. Bigs in the NBA are expected to have some semblance of a 3-point shot in their arsenal, which is why players like Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis are considered the best in that department.
