Patrick Ewing has been serving as head coach of his alma mater, the Georgetown Hoyas, over the last three seasons. However, former NBA coach Rick Pitino thinks the New York Knicks legend should have been a head coach in the league by now.
Pitino, who coached the Knicks and Boston Celtics, sat down with Steve Serby of The New York Post. One of the topics they touched upon was how Ewing is as a head coach.
The 67-year old mentor admitted that he liked what he saw from the 11-time All-Star the season prior and that they always kept in touch with each other.
“Patrick did a great job the year before at Georgetown. I followed him, I talked to him a lot on the phone, I’d call him after games and said what I liked and what I thought he needed to work on. I didn’t follow him this year because of being over in Greece,” Rick Pitino said.
Asked about why Ewing never had a shot at the lead gig in the NBA, Pitino said that the stereotype of centers did not do him any favors of eventually landing a head coaching job in the pros.
“I think that maybe a little bit of the stereotype of big guys, they don’t like to hire centers. It’s strange, but the only reason I say that is because there aren’t too many big guys being head coaches,” the two-time NCAA champion coach added.
Most player turned coaches in the NBA played guard during their respective careers. Perhaps the only big man that currently serves as a head coach in the NBA is the Phoenix Suns' Monty Williams, and even he played as a tweener between the two forward spots through his NBA career.
Prior to his assignment at Georgetown, Patrick Ewing had stints with the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, and most recently, the Charlotte Hornets as an assistant coach.
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