Patrick Ewing back with Knicks organization after 24 years apart

Patrick Ewing is back where he belongs. 

Twenty-four years after he left the Knicks in an ill-fated trade to Seattle, the Hall of Fame center was hired as a “basketball ambassador assisting both basketball and business operations,” the team announced Thursday. 

“As I said the day my number 33 lifted in the rafters at MSG, I will always be a Knick and I will always be a New Yorker,” Ewing said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get started in this new position and to officially be back with the organization that I love so much.” 

Ewing still holds the franchise record for career points, rebounds, blocks and minutes played — the cumulation of 15 seasons and 11 All-Star appearances with the Knicks. 

After retiring from playing, Ewing spent several seasons as an assistant coach with the Wizards, Rockets, Magic and Hornets.

More recently, he was the head coach at Georgetown before being fired after six seasons. 

But since his retirement from playing, Ewing never coached the Knicks or held an official position until Thursday.

He was once reportedly offered the Knicks D-League head coaching position but turned it down because his experience suggested it was insulting. 

Now, Ewing’s joining the organization at arguably its highest point since he was traded.

Coming off consecutive second-round eliminations, the expectation is New York breaks a 25-year drought by reaching the conference finals.

The Knicks also just acquired Karl-Anthony Towns, who has the ability to produce the franchise’s best season for a center since Ewing — although Amar’e Stoudemire’s campaign in 2010-11 will be difficult to top. 

Ewing, 62, has close ties to the current Knicks and was spotted at MSG as a guest multiple times last season.

He was coached by Tom Thibodeau, who was a Knicks assistant in the late-90s, and teammates with Rick Brunson, a current Knicks assistant and father to star point guard Jalen. 

His warm welcomes at MSG last season followed a controversial appearance in 2021, when Ewing was coaching Georgetown in the Big East tournament and complained of being “accosted” by arena security who didn’t recognize him.

But owner James Dolan and Ewing spoke soon after the incident and “reaffirmed” their “long-standing relationship,” a spokesperson said at the time. 

“The New York Knicks and Patrick Ewing are synonymous with one another, and we are humbled and excited to bring Patrick back home,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in Thursday’s statement. “A monumental figure in New York basketball lore, Patrick brings a wealth of knowledge from his time both on and off the court that is unmatched. We are ecstatic that Patrick will once again be back in the blue and orange.” 

Several former players hold positions at MSG, including Allan Houston, John Starks and Clyde Frazier.

But the player who logged more games alongside Ewing with the Knicks, Charles Oakley, remains at odds with Dolan and hasn’t returned to MSG since his infamous arrest in 2017. 

Oakley has also been critical of Ewing for not supporting him.