SEATTLE – Patrick Ewing found his way into the restaurant of the Knicks’ hotel Monday night in downtown Seattle on the eve of last night’s “ReEwnion” at Key Center.
But Ewing wasn’t having dinner with Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy or his ex- teammates. Ewing was breaking bread at The Four Seasons with TBS commentator John Thompson, the man to whom he truly is most loyal.
But the new Sonics center couldn’t let the irony pass without having some fun. Ewing used his cell phone to ring the rooms of a handful of his former mates’ rooms to razz them and let them know he was in the house, eating their food.
After dinner with Ewing, Thomas, his former coach at Georgetown who did the historic broadcast last night, got the sense that Ewing is holding no grudges against Knick players who have said privately – and hinted publicly – they might be better off without him.
In fact, Thompson got the impression Ewing was completely over the Knicks, who shipped him 3,000 miles away Sept. 20 by his own request because he felt the organization wanted to go in another direction and didn’t appreciate him any longer.
“He talked about his team more than he did this game,” said Thompson, who coached Ewing to an NCAA title 16 years ago in this same city. “He’s aware of it. He’s got to be numb if he’s not aware of it, but he didn’t talk a lot about it.”
Ewing did not talk to the press before yesterday’s game. After the morning shootaround, with more than a dozen reporters waiting for him outside the locker room, Ewing took the back exit to avoid them.
When the Knicks’ bus arrived at 10:30 a.m., guard Chris Childs walked out to the court area while the Sonics were in the middle of their morning shootaround to greet Ewing. It is believed Ewing didn’t come across any of the other Knicks during the morning festivities.
Although not one Knick called Ewing in the weeks after the trade was finalized, Thompson says Ewing holds no grudges and never has.
“The game means something to him, but I don’t think it’s a bitter game for him,” Thompson said. “It’s a competitive meaning more than a vicious game. He was calling a lot of the guys and the way they were talking, it didn’t seem like he was [ticked] off at anybody.
“Patrick is not a hateful person,” Thompson said. “That’s what I always loved about him. He’s never been a bitter, hateful man. Things hurt him but he gets over it. He doesn’t live with a lot of vendettas.
“He never sat down and talked to me like, ‘this guy I don’t like, that guy didn’t want me there.’ He’s not a complainer. That’s why I enjoy being with him. He doesn’t sit down and do a lot of complaining. He takes a lot of things inside.”
Thompson admitted as close as he is to Ewing, “The Big Fella” often doesn’t open up to him. “That’s not his nature,” Thompson said. “Patrick has never concerned himself with a lot of talk. He’s never been that kind of a person. He lives in his own world.”
Thompson has tried to get Ewing to show his personality more for the last several years, show his feelings, show he’s human and not a robot. Thompson knows Ewing’s private nature is one of the reasons New York never fully embraced Ewing as a living legend.
“He gets hurt about certain things but he doesn’t express it, even to me,” Thompson said. “I think he loved New York. A lot of people didn’t realize it, unfortunately. He didn’t let people realize it. We fussed about that many times.
“He accepted me for my imperfections. I had to accept him for his. He’s never been the kind of person who revealed himself to a lot of people. He doesn’t always reveal himself to me.”
Asked if he felt Ewing could be too emotional entering his first tango with the Knicks, Thompson said, “The man’s been playing for 15 years. If he’s overemotional now, the man needs to [bleeping] retire.”