Patrick Ewing On Son's Tweets: 'I Don't Need Him To Fight My Battles'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Jason Kidd began June as a member of the New York Knicks. He'll end it as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
Meanwhile, Knicks great Patrick Ewing has been waiting more than 10 years for his shot.
"I'm disappointed," Ewing told WFAN's Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on Friday. "Naturally, everybody who does this thing, their goal is to be a head coach. I felt I've paid my dues, I've worked hard, I've studied hard with the goal of trying to become a head coach."
He added: "I'm disappointed that it hasn't happened yet. But all I can do is just keep on working and keep on hoping that one day somebody will have faith in me the way that they have faith in Jason, that he can get the job done."
Patrick Ewing
Ewing, who played the majority of his Hall of Fame career in New York, has served as an assistant coach in Washington, Houston and Orlando since his retirement in 2002. He was recently hired as an assistant by the Charlotte Bobcats.
Ewing said he was "very happy" for Kidd despite it all.
"(Owner Mikhail) Prokhorov and the rest of the guys over there with the Nets believe that he can get it done. All I can do is wish him luck."
He's taking it better than his son. Patrick Ewing Jr. lashed out Wednesday night on Twitter after hearing the news of Kidd's hiring.
"I told him he needs to stop all that," the elder Ewing told Boomer and Carton. "I appreciate it, I love him, love him to death. He's my son, he's my blood. But I don't need him to fight my battles."
The 50-year-old was offered an opportunity to coach the Knicks' D-League franchise in Erie before the 2012-13 season. He turned it down.
"I wasn't offended," Ewing said. "I just didn't want to be a coach in the developmental league. I wanted to be a coach in the NBA. I felt that I worked extremely hard to be a coach in the NBA and I just thought that the opportunity wasn't in my best interests."
Ewing insisted he has "no problem" with the Knicks or team owner James Dolan.
"Maybe one day in the near future I'll be back in the organization," he said.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
