Patrick Ewing’s NBA Legends profile starts with just one word: “Warrior.” There may not be a more apt descriptor of who Ewing was during his time with the NY Knicks.
Is Patrick Ewing the greatest player in New York Knicks franchise history? There are arguments to be made for Willis Reed and Walt Frazier, but as the Knicks leader in most major statistical categories and a top 25 All-Time scorer, it’s hard to argue against him despite Ewing never winning the big one.
Even though he never brought a title to the Garden, Ewing is the Knicks’ win-shares leader, per Basketball Reference’s Franchise Index, and he led the team to 13 consecutive playoff appearances under the tutelage of six different head coaches.
Ewing was the constant during the 90s heydays.
Still, it’s hard to argue that he may not have won that title with a bit more from his supporting cast.
For comparison, Ewing played with two players–Charles Oakley (#5) and John Starks (#11)–during a run in the mid-90s who are top 12 in win shares in franchise history. Compare that to Michael Jordan’s run from the same era where he played with three other players–Scottie Pippen (#2), Horace Grant (#5), and Toni Kukoc (#12)–who rank in the top 12 for the Bulls franchise.
This is no knock on some great former Knicks, but one additional piece might have been what put him over the top.
Do any of you remember that show Quantum Leap? To briefly summarize, Scott Bakula would time travel (and I guess soul travel, technically) into the lives of other people and right some sort of wrong. It was great.
We’re going to do a Knicks Quantum Leap today by exploring three players Patrick Ewing would have loved to pull a Scott Bakula and join him at some point from 1990-1999 to help him capture the ring that eluded him.
It’s hard to imagine that any of the players in this article would have pushed the Knicks past Jordan’s Bulls, but any one of them might have made a huge difference during Jordan’s hiatus.
Is this a wild premise? Yup.
Is it worth exploring in the off-season? Also yup.
NY Knicks: Quantum Leaper – Chris Paul
When Bevis and Butthead got revived in 2011, there was a line from the trailer that always slayed (my dictionary says I should use the word “slew” here. I disagree.): “If you’re gonna make it, why not make it good?”
If we’re going to give Patrick Ewing a current point guard, why not give him one nicknamed “The Point God.”
Ewing played with some solid point guards like Mark Jackson and Greg Anthony, but none of them impacted winning the way that Paul does.
Remember that Franchise Index from earlier that ranked players’ win shares with a given team? Only one player in NBA history is number one for more than one franchise. That player is Chris Paul.
It’s fun to imagine what Ewing and the Knicks might have achieved with Paul running the offense.
The man is a facilitator, through-and-through having only averaged fewer than seven assists per game one time in his career, per Basketball-Reference. For the record, he’s never averaged fewer than 6.7.
It’s easy to picture what things might have looked like for a Ewing/Paul pair when you watch how CP3 is impacting Deandre Ayton this season with the Pheonix Suns.
Paul’s game just has a timeless feel to it that would have vibed really well with Ewing.
NY Knicks: Quantum Leaper #2 – Marcus Smart
Toughness.
Tenacity.
Dog.
While his offensive game is not worth building around, what Marcus Smart brings on the defensive end would have fit right in with the 90s Knicks.
Ewing’s Knicks and Smart could be described using the same adjective: gritty.
And not gross Gritty like the Flyers mascot. Good gritty. Best Batman stories gritty.
It’s hard to believe adding a perimeter defensive presence like Smart wouldn’t have improved the bench rotation in the 90s. Smart’s career VORP is better than that of players like Doug Christie and Hubert Davis.
There are a number of stats I could give you here, but I have to be truly honest with you here: this one is just a gut feeling thing.
Doesn’t it just feel like Smart would have gelled with those teams? He gives me a “Charles Oakley of the Perimeter” kind of vibe.
We’ve all seen the footage of guards getting roughed up while driving the lane against this team, but it’s fun to think about having a guy like Smart get into their grill from the moment they cross half-court.
Having a guy like Smart to guard Sam Cassell might have made a huge difference in Game 3 of the 1994 NBA Finals.
Smart would have taken a tough team and made them even tougher.
NY Knicks: Quantum Leaper #3 – Klay Thompson
This section is not going to be all about John Starks in the NBA Finals. I promise to talk about Klay Thompson at some point.
Starks’s struggles during the final two games of that series have been well documented. But here’s the thing: it’s important to discuss again in the context of this article.
Starks getting his shot blocked at the end of game six followed up by his 2-18 performance in game seven were costly to the team during Ewing’s only trip to the NBA Finals.
It’s nearly impossible to fathom “Game Six Klay” suffering the same fate. Thompson would have made a huge difference in the outcome of that series.
“But just to show you I’m not a hard-hearted man…”
It’s not just about comparing Thompson’s playoff track record to what happened with Starks in the finals.
Thompson’s three-point shooting ability would have been a perfect complement to Ewing’s game. He has shot over 50% from three since 2015. He moves so well without the ball, which makes him a perfect Robin to pretty much any Batman.
Daydreaming about a player who can score 60 points on 11 dribbles competing alongside Ewing is an NSFW dream.
His work on the defensive side of the ball is nothing to scoff at, either. His wingspan and quickness make him a versatile defender.
If Ewing was the sun, Thompson would have been a perfect planet to orbit him.