CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hornets’ backup big men are tearing through a one-on-one post skills drill, where they try to score on each other after catching the ball with their backs to the basket. The Hall of Famer watches, passing out basketballs as necessary, taking in the scene of the screaming 7-footers.

Rookie Frank Kaminsky has the ball against Spencer Hawes. He leans left, then uses a drop step to slink past the veteran for a layup. Hawes slams the ball in frustration. Patrick Ewing barely reacts.

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Stoicism has defined Ewing for more than 30 years. The best athlete in New York City disliked drawing attention to himself so much that Sports Illustrated ran a 1993 profile of Ewing without a quote from him. His coach at Georgetown, John Thompson Jr., was fiercely protective of the Jamaica native whose accent still shows at times.

But Ewing wants a job now, so after the big men break up their practice, he ambles over to where I’m waiting for him, to talk about his influences and his future. In a 13-minute conversation, there’s no stoicism, no silence. There’s a man with a plan. Patrick Ewing is ready to be an NBA head coach.

“I don't know when it's going to come,” Ewing told Sporting News last month. “All I can do is keep on working and keep on preparing, so that when and if I have an opportunity, I'll be successful at it.”



Patrick Ewing, a big presence

Ewing, 53, has an idea on the timing. The Knicks’ job is open this offseason, and even though Ewing has never worked with or played for team president Phil Jackson, he’d love the chance to return to the team of his first 15 NBA seasons as a player. The Rockets are looking, and he was an assistant coach there for four years. The Wizards’ job could be open soon, too, and his connections there go back to his first season as an assistant, working for Doug Collins and coaching Michael Jordan, who doubled as his boss then.

Mostly, he wants a chance. Ewing is finishing his 12th season as an NBA assistant, with a career record of 549-418. He’s the associate head coach of the surprisingly playoff-bound Hornets — owned by Jordan, his Dream Team compatriot — and head coach Steve Clifford is getting buzz as a Coach of the Year candidate. These are the types of credentials, combined with his status as one of the greatest centers ever, that most teams would love in a coaching candidate.

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Instead, Ewing gets the run-around. He’s heard the knocks:

• Big men don’t make head coaches. The tallest current head coaches in the NBA are the Trail Blazers' Terry Stotts, who never played in the NBA, and Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis. After Rambis, it’s a tie between the Timberwolves’ Sam Mitchell, the Nets’ Tony Brown and the Wizards’ Randy Wittman — all of whom may be out of the league after this season ends. (The Rockets’ Kevin McHale, at 6-10, was the tallest before being fired in the fall.)

“That's one of the things for me, when I became an assistant coach, I never wanted to be called a big man's coach,” the 7-0 Ewing said. “I can coach anybody. Basketball is not brain surgery. I've played this game long enough and coached it long enough that I can teach up anybody on how to play and the things to be successful."

• Superstars struggle as coaches. They either rest on their laurels or hold their less-talented players to their own unrealistic standards. From Isiah Thomas to Magic Johnson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the standard is there. Of course, Larry Bird and Lenny Wilkens were excellent coaches. And Ewing has those who expect the same from him.

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“He’s been more willing to pay his dues and learn than any great player that I can think of,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who had Ewing on his Magic staff, told Sporting News. “This is a guy who, I've never really understood why he can't get his shot. He's worked Washington, Houston, Orlando, (Charlotte) — four different places. Hard-working assistant coach, smart guy. Then you see all these smaller guys, guys who didn't have anyway near the career as a player (get jobs). So many people want ex-players as coaches, so why he hasn't gotten a shot? It's mind-boggling to me. I would have thought it would have come by now."

• The game is too different now. This one ignores that Ewing never left it. He has spent two years away from the NBA sideline since retiring, and he shows great ability to relate to today’s players.

“He's been a tremendous help for me, personally,” Hornets forward Marvin Williams told Sporting News. “Even though he played center, he knows the game, from the point guard to the center. So there's been many, many times where he sees something out there, and he'll pull me aside and help me out, whether it be offensively or defensively. He does that for a lot of guys on our team. He'll be a fantastic head coach one day, no question.”



Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing

Clifford and Ewing were brought together on Jeff Van Gundy’s staff in Houston. Ewing was the icon who had played for Van Gundy and now would mentor second-year center Yao Ming. Clifford was the recent Division II coach who played at Maine-Farmington.

“He told Jeff, ‘I’ll take the job as long as you’re having me do the same thing everyone else does,’” Clifford told Sporting News. “So game-planning, working with players, practice preparation, summer league — he's done everything. Our staff in Houston was Patrick, Tom (Thibodeau), myself, Andy Greer, Michael Longabardi. He did everything everybody else did. When we went to Orlando, it was the same way. So he hasn't just said, ‘I want to coach to stay around the game.’ He has attacked, with the same work ethic he had as a player.”

These days, Clifford works his top assistant. Ewing is responsible for film edits, walk-throughs and presenting the game plan to the Hornets. He makes sure the team is prepared for each game, the kind of preparation that is necessary to become a good head coach, where much of the work ends up being about internal improvements.

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Having spent most of the past 20 years playing or working for the Van Gundy brothers and Clifford (sometimes referred to as the "third Van Gundy brother”), Ewing has picked up their diligence and attention to detail. That’s why he watches quietly in practice, to better be able to help those backup big men after they’ve cooled off and he’s had time to think about their technique.

But Ewing also played for Hubie Brown, Rick Pitino, Pat Riley, Don Nelson and Doc Rivers. He’s seen the NBA change up close, and he stresses that his own coaching philosophy is to take what he’s learned and apply it to the roster he’s given.

“Everybody wants to be Golden State, but if you don't have Golden State talent, you can't play that way,” Ewing said. “So it all depends on what my team would be. That’s the way my philosophy is. I'm going to stress defense like they do. I'm going to stress rebounding like they do. I'm going to stress getting back and stopping teams in transition and not fouling. But also, you can stop teams, but you've also got to score. So you've got to push the ball down on the other end, get into offense quicker, try to get shots up as quickly as we can — good shots, though, not just rushed shots.”

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That becomes obvious when you discuss his teachings with players. Al Jefferson credits Ewing with helping him learn to become a smarter defender in the Hornets’ system, a massive step for the slow-footed big man who struggled on that end with fouls and missed assignments. But when Ewing worked with a more athletically gifted center, his approach was different.

“He knew we (he and Ewing) were two different types of players,” Rockets center Dwight Howard, who played for Ewing in Orlando, told Sporting News. “One thing he always used to tell me was to go try to get everything.”



Patrick Ewing, lessons learned from basketball's best

Ewing’s work with Yao and Howard helped propel them to one day joining him in the Hall of Fame. But unlike his greatest playing rival, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ewing has refused to settle for teaching post moves. He has refused to let his star status overshadow his work ethic. He has refused to allow himself to be lumped in with his peers’ dated tactics, playing a role in the Magic and Hornets’ four-shooter philosophies.

None of this means Ewing will be a great head coach. Working with great head coaches rubs off, but it also can cover flaws. And Ewing certainly has worked most directly with other big men, while the NBA coaching market’s preference for point guards makes sense given their required on-court sensibilities. Ewing, like much of the Van Gundy coaching tree, is known for his defensive acumen in an era when offensive minds typically get preferential treatment.

But he has refused to let himself go ignored again. Ewing needed to break his silence in order to be taken seriously, so he has gone on the radio to proclaim that, yes, he does want that Knicks job. He’s more vocal these days, Hornets and former Magic guard Courtney Lee has noticed. The networking and publicity part may have been Ewing’s real ceiling.

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“I don't think he is the kind of guy who goes out and does those things, shakes all the hands and all of that,” one NBA general manger told Sporting News’ Sean Deveney. “It might not be fair, but that is part of how guys get those coaching jobs, and that's never been his personality.”

Ewing doesn’t shake hands. That’s true. He prefers a fist bump, which he gives me as the interview wraps up. But as we walk off the practice court, I ask about where his next stop might be. New York? Houston? He laughs and sighs.

“Aye, any job. Any job. Any job."