New York Knicks Hall-of-Famer Patrick Ewing says he prefers not to watch ESPN’s documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing lived through enough pain in battling Michael Jordan, so he doesn’t need a documentary to remind him of it. The Hall-of-Famer answered questions about ESPN’s The Last Dance docu-series during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday.
"“I had to live through all of the battles that we had to go through, and now you all have a documentary that you have to keep rubbing it in my face,” Ewing said while laughing."
The former Knick played Jordan’s Bulls five times in the playoffs, dating back to 1988-89 when Chicago beat the Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Despite valiant efforts, New York never beat the Bulls in the postseason with Jordan in the lineup. They finally advanced to the NBA Finals in 1994 when Jordan was playing baseball.
Asked if he is watching the documentary, Ewing responded that he rather not.
"“I watch some of it. I watch a little, then I shut it off and go do other things. I lived through it, so I don’t need to watch it. I know he’s great,” Ewing said."
Ewing was recently criticized by former teammate Charles Oakley, who blamed the big man for New York’s failure to beat the Bulls. Coach Jeff Van Gundy, while not directly responding to Oakley, defended Ewing’s postseason play, citing his amazing performances that fans often forget about. Unfortunately, Ewing wasn’t asked about Oakley’s comments during the interview with Dan Patrick.
The big fella says he doesn’t need to watch the documentary because anytime his name comes up, he receives texts from people. Ewing said, if anything, the series has helped his argument with a recent Georgetown recruit, who asked him who he thought was better between Jordan and LeBron. The recruit texted him after watching The Last Dance that now he understands why Ewing believes Jordan was the better player.
The Georgetown alum is good friends with MJ from when he was recruited to play at North Carolina. The two are still close to this day. Ewing said he talked to him over the phone a few weeks ago.
During his interview with Dan Patrick, Ewing revealed his Olympic gold medals and 1984 college championship ring were stolen a while ago from his New York apartment.