Patrick Ewing says that he probably would not have joined a superteam the way LeBron James has talked about doing.
Ewing, now an associate head coach for the Charlotte Hornets, joined ESPN’s Hannah Storm for an interview and was asked about what’s going on with LeBron. Though Ewing called LeBron “the best player in the game,” the former center said he probably would not have joined forces with his contemporaries.
“I’m not big with the Twitter or the Facebook, so [LeBron] befriending them or whatever you want to call it, that’s his prerogative,” Ewing said. “Even if he wants to play with those guys, I don’t see it happening. We all have dreams, and that’s his dream.”
Storm then asked whether Ewing would have considered playing with his “Dream Team” teammates Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird.
“Probably not because we have so much of a great rivalry going against one another,” Ewing said. “Larry with his trash talking. Magic also with trash talking, also a great player … to win a championship, a lot of people are willing to do that.”
All four players were lucky enough to have plenty of talented teammates surrounding them, helping all but Ewing win championships (though Ewing came close). James has already won two championships playing with some excellent teammates in Miami, and he went to Cleveland and tried to reconstruct another superteam. With him making noise about playing with CP3, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, it makes it seem like LeBron is giving up on his current Cavs teammates.
Ewing couldn’t have seen himself doing that. His answer is not as surprising given that players from his generation have said the same thing. Remember what MJ said about James going to Miami to begin with?
