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.”
After retiring from playing, Ewing spent several years 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 a position within the organization until Thursday.
There were reports Ewing was once offered the D-League coaching position, which he turned down because his resume suggested it was insulting.
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 was teammates with Rick Brunson, a current Knicks assistant and father to star point guard Jalen.
“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 a 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.”
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