Patrick Ewing Disappointed That He Still Isn’t an NBA Head Coach
By Eric He
Patrick Ewing has been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2003, the year after he retired, and still hasn’t been hired as a head coach.
Meanwhile, Jason Kidd retired earlier this offseason, and one week later, became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
Ewing, obviously, is far from happy with the latest developments.
“I’m disappointed,” Ewing told WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on Friday. “Naturally, everybody who does this thing, their goal is to be a head coach. I felt I’ve paid my dues, I’ve worked hard, I’ve studied hard with the goal of trying to become a head coach.”
Ewing spent a year with the Washington Wizards as an assistant after retiring, then three years with the Houston Rockets, then moved to the Orlando Magic in a similar role, helping them reach the NBA Finals in 2009.
He was recently hired by the Charlotte Bobcats as an — you guessed it — assistant.
Ewing is a Hall-of-Famer who spent 15 seasons with the New York Knicks,
He turned down an offer to coach in the D-League before the 2012-2013 season.
“I wasn’t offended,” Ewing said. “I just didn’t want to be a coach in the developmental league. I wanted to be a coach in the NBA. I felt that I worked extremely hard to be a coach in the NBA and I just thought that the opportunity wasn’t in my best interests.”