Some employees at The World’s Most Famous Arena apparently don’t recognize one of the most famous athletes to ever call it home.
After coaching Georgetown to a win over Villanova in the Big East tournament on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks legend Patrick Ewing revealed that he had been “accosted” by members of MSG security during his time at the venue.
“I do want to say one thing, though. I thought this was my building,” the seven-footer said. “And I feel terrible that I’m getting stopped, accosted, [people] asking for passes. Everybody in this building should know who the hell I am, and I’m getting stopped — I can’t move around this building. I was like, ‘What the hell? Is this Madison Square Garden?’ I’m going to have to call Mr. Dolan and say, ‘Geez, is my number in the rafters or what?’”
Ewing was referring to Knicks owner James Dolan, who is no stranger to issues like this and famously had Ewing’s former teammate Charles Oakley banned from MSG and indicated he had a drinking problem after security kicked him out of the arena in 2017. Oakley responded with a lawsuit against Dolan, accusing him of defamation, assault and false imprisonment.
Likely because of the previous incident with Oakley and similar situations involving Spike Lee and Ethan Hawke, MSG Entertainment is very sensitive about the perception of its security force to the point where the entity felt compelled to comment about what Ewing had to say.
“[James Dolan] and Patrick have a long-standing relationship; they spoke this afternoon and reaffirmed that,” MSG Entertainment said in a statement to ESPN. “We all know, respect and appreciate what he means to The Garden and New York. Good luck to him and his Hoyas in the Big East semi-finals.”
A Hall-of-Fame center, Ewing averaged 22.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game during his 15 seasons with the Knicks and made it to the NBA Finals twice during his time in New York.
The Knicks retired the 11-time All-Star’s No. 33 jersey to MSG’s rafters in 2003. He will coach Georgetown (11-12) against Seton Hall on Friday night and the Hoyas will need to win that game and then win the Big East tourney outright in order to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. The Hoyas, who’ve won six of their past eight games, haven’t won the conference tournament since 2007.
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