New York Knicks icon Patrick Ewing is the latest big name in the basketball world to make their pick in the GOAT debate. Ewing was asked who he believes is the GOAT during an appearance on The Mark Jackson Show and he went with Michael Jordan over the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
“It’s funny that everybody asks that question and to me, I think Michael Jordan is the best in my era,” Ewing said. “The way that he played, everything that he brought to the table, not to take anything away from LeBron or Kobe. LeBron is great, but Michael was a killer from day one, he was an assassin from day one. I thought LeBron had to learn how to be an assassin.”
Ewing added that he would certainly prefer to play with James over Jordan, as he would give him the ball a lot more.
“LeBron is a lot like Magic (Johnson), he’s a facilitator, he knows how to get people the ball and he became a scorer as he got older,” Ewing continued. “But, he’s great, but I’m going to say, Michael.”
(starts at 52:30 mark):
Ewing also praised the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Julius Erving for what they did in their era. He admitted it is difficult to pick just one player, but took his hat off to Jordan.
As for Ewing’s reasoning here for picking the Chicago Bulls icon, he is not the first to bring up the assassin/killer argument. Michael Malone picked Jordan over James and stated the latter does not have the same killer mentality. It is an opinion that a fair few do hold, but Ewing at least believes that LeBron eventually became an assassin.
While many agree with Ewing and Malone that Jordan is the greatest, LeBron’s case has been getting stronger over time. A growing number are starting to think he deserves that title now and this debate looks like it will last until the end of time. We did a career comparison of Jordan and LeBron, and at least for now, the former has the edge.
Patrick Ewing Revealed How Michael Jordan Played A Big Part In Him Becoming A Coach
Jordan gave Ewing plenty of headaches on the court over the years, such as when he beat him in the NCAA championship game in 1982 and in five different playoff series in the NBA. There is one thing, though, that Ewing is very grateful to Jordan for, and that’s for kickstarting his coaching career. (starts at the 30:03 mark in the above video):
“I was given an opportunity through Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was running the Wizards at the time and when I decided to retire, he gave me that opportunity to come to Washington and try coaching. Said if I didn’t like the coaching, he’ll move me into the front office. I tried coaching under Doug Collins, Larry Drew, Johnny Bach, Brian James on that staff and fell in love with it.”
Ewing didn’t really want to become a coach before that, but he loved it when he gave it a try. He went on to be an assistant coach in the NBA for well over a decade, after which he took the head coaching job at Georgetown in 2017. He was at the helm there till 2023, when he was fired. Ewing hopes to get another coaching opportunity somewhere and I hope he does.
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