New York Knicks owner James Dolan hasn’t always received the best press, but credit the boss for selecting Patrick Ewing on lottery night.
New York Knicks fans were more than pleased when news broke that Basketball Hall of Famer and current head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, Patrick Ewing, would be selected to represent the orange and blue at the lottery.
Via Marc Berman of the New York Post, President of Basketball Operations Steve Mills pulled us behind the curtain when he explained that owner James Dolan was the man who suggested Ewing as the representative when the Knicks find out where they will pick in the 2019 draft.
“Actually Jim Dolan called me up and asked, ‘Who’s attending the lottery?’ ” Mills told The Post. “I said Scott [Perry, general manager], and I haven’t talked about it that much. He said, ‘I’m just making a suggestion. You can say no if you want to. But what about Patrick?’
“I said, ‘I think that’s a good idea.’ ”
The Knicks can use just about as much good karma as possible. Ewing, as many will remember, was the number one pick during the 1985 draft, the last time that the Knicks won the lottery.
The “Big Fella,” for his part, seemed more than excited about the opportunity, giving fans a teaser as early as last week via Twitter.
Ewing is asked about how often he gets asked about Zion or KD coming to the Knicks, he says "all the time" and then says: "There's a secret that's going to come out in a couple of weeks, but I'm not going to say it yet…They'll see when it happens."
Oh?
— Hoyas247 (@Hoyas247) April 11, 2019
With regard to the draft, everyone knows that the stakes are high. There is a huge drop off between the consensus number one pick, Zion Williamson, and everyone else. All signs point to Williamson having the skill set needed to change a franchise’s fortunes for years to come.
And if your lucky number is 14, maybe you wear your favorite Allonzo Trier or Anthony Mason jersey the night of the lottery. That number is significant because the Knicks will have a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery. And despite all of the losing the did, the likelihood that they fall out of the top three just seems like a sad and sick joke.
New York Knicks fans are used to those, but all it takes is a little bit of luck to change it all.
