Patrick Ewing never won an NBA title as a New York Knick in large part to the presence of Michael Jordan. Ewing who still follows his former franchise closely, thinks Carmelo Anthony will suffer the same fate because of LeBron James.
Ewing told ESPN New York that the Knicks are not good enough to beat and dethrone the Heat for an NBA championship.
“I don’t think anybody’s good enough to beat Miami,” Ewing told ESPNNewYork.com. “Miami’s on a roll; you’ve got three bona fide superstars on that team who are used to playing with each other, who are playing at a very high level. I don’t think anybody right now can challenge Miami in the East. I don’t really think anyone can challenge them in the West, either.”
Ewing who now works as an analyst for the MSG Network, said he initially believed Carmelo Anthony and Amare’ Stoudemire would be able to get over the hump.
“When I looked at that team on paper, the duo of Amar’e and Melo, I liked it a lot as an inside-outside punch,” Ewing said. “Even though they were both similar in a lot of ways where they both need the ball, I thought you could post Amar’e up, you could run pick-and-roll, you could hit him on the dive. And Melo can shoot the long ball, put it on the floor, and you could also post him up.
“I thought it was good, but then it’s about the pieces you put around them. I like the team. It’s just unfortunate that Amar’e got hurt, and then when you’re playing in New York, everything is put under a microscope.”