There are great sportsmen, there are those who achieved great results and who earned a lot of money, and we should all pay respect to those people who made a difference in the world of sport.
But there are those who are a little bit different than others – in 1984 and 1992, he won two Olympic gold medals in basketball, and whose Net Worth is 85 million dollars.
We are talking about retired Jamaican-American basketball player Patrick Ewing who is a now a famous coach and famous and respected name in the world of basketball.
His career is spotless, and he was introduced into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice.
He stared in movies Space Jam and Senseless where he played himself.
During his career, he had many lucrative deals with various companies.
Now, Ewing is the head coach for Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball team.
During his career both as the player and coach he stood side by side with the great names in the business – Stan Van Gundy (Orlando Magic), Tom Thibodeau (Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves), Jeff Van Gundy (Knicks, Houston Rockets), Pat Riley (New York Knicks) , and Steve Clifford (Charlotte).
Ewing is a second all-time in scoring at Georgetown, with an average 5.3 points in 143 games.
He scored at least 2,000 points (2,184), and he is the all-time leader in blocked shots (493), total rebounds (1,316), and games played (143).
Early Years
Patrick Aloysius Ewing was born on August 5, 1962, in Kingston, Jamaica, he is the son of Carl and Dorothy Ewing.
His father, Carl, was a mechanic while his mother Dorothy was a housewife, one modest family with the desire to change their lives for good.
The Ewing family struggled with money, and Patrick took care of his brothers and sisters.
The times got better, and the family was stable enough to move to some better place; and the family moved to America – in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ewing attended Cambridge Ridge High, and he was a first-class cricket and soccer player. There was no doubt that Patrick was a real sports figure and that he could be successful in any sport – he had the built and speed that took to play any sport he wanted.
In time, through the mentorship from John Fountain and communicating with his neighbors, Patrick learned to play basketball.
He was natural for this game, but the time has come for him to focus on his studies and improve his grades.
While in school, Patrick worked really hard to have good grades and to be excellent in sport.
Studying was really important to Ewing.
He attended Georgetown University for 4 years where he performed in the NCAA Championship Game three times, and eventually he was called the 16th greatest player of all time by ESP.
When, Patrick, in 1980 he tried to enter the Olympic team, he did not qualify, but he truly leads his team to victory in some championships.
He was the first high school student to have been invited for Olympic trials, and this is so amazing by itself, even knowing that fact that he was not selected to represent his country, this experience was valuable for young Ewing, and showed that he was on the right track.
Career Development
In Georgetown, when Patrick Ewing joined the University and the basketball team, he signed up to play for Coach John Thompson.
Patrick Ewing became a citizen of the United States in that year.
This came as a big surprise to his fans who believed that he would play for the Boston University.
In 1984, Ewing became the most prominent “All American three times player.” for the division one competition replacing the celebrated player Hakeem Olajuwon.
Ewing tried the tests for the U.S Olympic basketball team and was successfully accepted- this time he became the part of the team that will make his nation proud.
In 1985 he was chosen for the NBA by the Knicks who had won the draft lottery.
Ewing had some injuries during his career – but he still succeeded in earning an average of 20 points, 9 rebounds and two blocks per game for the Knicks. He earned the title “NBA rookie of the year”. Ewing has also selected an NBA all-star 11 times and led the team to 13 playoff appearances.
All of this leads him to become a member of the first dream team during the 1992 Olympic Games.
Patrick played for Knicks for about 15 years and so of his team players were the best of the best, the players that were one of a kind, like Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippin.
In 2000, Ewing left the Knicks and became the member of Seattle Supersonics -he played for them just for one year.
Next year, in 2001, Patrick played for the Orlando magic until he announced his retirement on September 18, 2002.
Five years later, Ewing became the assistant coach for the team.
This was the moment where his couch career started, and it lasts until this day – he joined the Washington Wizards as an assistant coach to Kwame Brown.
Next, Ewing went to the Houston Rockets to assist its coach Yao Ming and has helped him improve his coaching skills.
On February 18, 2003, Ewing’s jersey retreated in a celebration at Madison square garden.
Patrick Ewing played in the movie ‘Space Jam and Senseless.
The fact is that Ewing was a two-time member of gold medal-winning Olympic basketball teams, and on top of this, he was the member of the “Dream team” which was made of NBA superstars.
After winning the NCAA championship, Patrick emerged as the winner of gold medals in the 1992 U.S men’s Olympic.
In 1996, Patrick earned a rank of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.
In 2008, Ewing was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
As far as some numbers go – he got a total of 24,815 points; in 2014 the NBA ranked him position 18 on the scorer’s list.
In 2017, Georgetown University entitled Ewing as men’s head basketball coach.
He never won the title Best NBA player, and many say that this comes from the fact that he played at the same time as the one and only Michael Jordan.
One of his most memorable performances was facing the NBA Champion Chicago Bulls in the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Despite an ankle injury, Ewing scored 27 points to help his team win the game.
This moment is seen as the most memorable performances of his life.
Personal Life
Ewing’s mother died from a heart attack in 1983 – soon after this terrible event, his high school girlfriend Sharon Stanford got pregnant. The pair was still in college.
His son Patrick Ewing Jr was born on May 21, 1984.
Patrick was scared how he will be able to support his kid and study – but he always had in mind a promise that he gave to his late mother – that he will finish his studies no matter what.
And he did complete his education, and he even several lucrative offers of turning pro that came his way until he graduated in 1985.
In 1990, he married Rita Williams with whom they have two daughters Corey and Randi. They married after dating for some time – the duo met while she was studying for her Science degree in nursing at Howard University.
Rita and Patrick have two children – Randi Ewing, and Corey Ewing.
All of his children are successful and involved in sport – son, Patrick Jr played for Georgetown (2006-08), and daughter Randi is volleyball player who attended Fordham University.
Their youngest kid, daughter Corey, followed the steps of his father and went to Georgetown.
Eventually, Rita and Ewing divorced in 1988 – and the reason behind their divorce is the fact that as some claims stated, that Ewing was unfaithful to Rita. He had a secret relationship with NBA York Knicks dancer named Heather Errico.
It is said that Heather followed Ewing on all games, out of time, even if that is not the common practice.
This affair ended also, and now Patrick is in a relationship with girlfriend Cheryl Weaver, and the pair shares a daughter, Alexis.
Weaver is a former indoor volleyball player – she played for Pro Beach Volley Ball Tour.
Patrick made a short appearance in the movie Senseless and Space Jam along with some popular basketball players including Muggsy Bogues, Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, Mand Shawn Bradley.
This was a half animated half feature movie that was one of a kind at the time of its release; it earned more than 200 million dollars.
Earnings
Ewing has an approximated Net Worth around $85 million, and the majority of that money he has earned within his NBA career.
Some sources say that his whole basketball career earning is around 118,223,608 dollars.
Now he has the salary of around $4 million per year as the head coach of Georgetown University men’s basketball team.
In 2007, Ewing purchased the Cresskill home for $6.35 million – this is a huge house that has seven bedrooms, and ten bathrooms.
He also earned a lot of money from a sneaker endorsement contract with Adidas in 1986.
In 1991, Ewing associated with Next Sports, a licensing agreement to publish footwear under his name in the USA under a new company that was called “Ewing Athletics” that was closed in 1996.
In 2012, company GPF Footwear LLC that was lead by David Goldberg, successfully collaborated with Patrick to revitalize the old Ewing Athletics line. The idea was to bring it back to the market and to bring back the retro trend.
His career had its path – he never neglected his family, he finished his studies, he raised his children; and as far as basketball goes, he has done it everything, won everything. Now he can enjoy and teach others about the joys of this sport.
Quick Summary
Full name: Patrick Aloysius Ewing
Date of birth: August 5, 1962
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica
Age: 67 years
Profession: a basketball player
Height: 7 ft 0 in or 2.13 m
Weight: 240 lb (109 kg)
Net Worth: $85 million