In anticipation of tonight's showdown at the Garden, the Times has a piece on the Ewings Jr. & Sr. Jr. has been great this year; hopefully he keeps it up against the Johnies.
Ewing Jr. Follows Dad’s Path to Garden
He said his father never pressured him to play basketball and stressed education over sports. “He probably would have rather me not play,” Ewing Jr. said. “But watching him play, I couldn’t help but want to be just like him, good as he was.” When Patrick Ewing was finishing his N.B.A. career with Orlando in 2001-2, his son visited him on an off-day, and they played one-on-one, as they often had before. “I tried to get serious, and I ended up winning a game,” Ewing Jr. said. That was a first. “And we played another game after that,” he added. “I missed my first shot and never got the ball back. He beat me, 11-0. And then he told me, ‘That will be the first and only time you will ever beat me.’ And he won’t play me any more.” Patrick Ewing confirmed the story Saturday at the Verizon Center, where he watched from a courtside seat. “Yeah,” he said, smiling. “Once was enough.”
. . . .
Later, the intergenerational interaction continued when Thompson’s father, John Jr., spotted the younger Ewing in a dress suit in the hallway outside the locker room. The elder Thompson put his arm around the younger Ewing, pulled him toward him and put his mouth near his ear. As he spoke softly and intently, slight smiles grew on both men’s faces. Those standing nearby seemed to edge backward, away from them, in small steps. Although it was a crowded and public place, this chat seemed private, intimate and personal, like family.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/sports/ncaabasketball/01ewing.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Thursday, February 01, 2007
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