50 Greatest Basketball Players Ever - 31 to 40 on our Best NBA Players list

#33 Patrick Ewing

Career per-game stats: 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.4 blocks

Shooting splits: 50.4% from the field, 15.2% on 3-pointers. 74% on free throws

Accolades: All-NBA First Team (1990), 6-time All-NBA Second Team selection (1988, 89, 91-93, 97), 3-time All-Defensive Second Team (1988, 1989, 1992), Rookie of the Year (1986),

Records: New York Knicks all-time leader in games, minutes, points, rebounds, blocks and steals

The Jamaican-born Patrick Ewing is up there among the greatest players never to win an NBA title. In fact, he played in an era so stacked that despite being arguably a top 10 defensive center of all time, he was unable to crack the All-Defensive First Team throughout his peak - purely because of the presence of GOAT-caliber centers like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and specialists like Dikembe Mutombo, Mark Eaton and Robert Parish.

To give an idea to new basketball fans as to how good Patrick Ewing was, a modern-day equivalent of the Knicks legend would be DeAndre Ayton - except the fact that Ayton played no defense in college whereas Ewing would be winning Defensive Player of the Year every season over the competition in today's game, which comprises mainly of Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis amongst bigs.

Ewing picked up the game of basketball after moving to Massachusetts from his home island at the age of 12 - he spent his initial years playing football and cricket as a typical Jamaican kid of those times. He was natural at it, and emerged as Mr. USA Basketball in the year 1981 and was recruited heavily by the top basketball programs in the nation at the time. He eventually attended Georgetown University and is currently the head coach of the Hoyas.

The Hoyas made it to 3 NCAA Finals during his time, winning it all in 1984 with Ewing at the center of their offense as well as defense. He was the highest-rated college basketball player of his time, winning an Olympic gold medal alongside Charles Barkley and GOAT Michael Jordan in 1984 before winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 1985.

Selected by the Knicks in 1985 with the first overall pick, Ewing's impact on the city and the franchise was immediate and profound. He won Rookie of the Year honors and was voted into the All-Star game, but injuries held him back in his first couple of years as a Knickerbocker.

Ewing's first fully healthy season saw the Knicks post a 38-44 record in 87-88, making the playoffs as the 8th seed. They improved further in his 4th professional season to a 52-30 record after acquiring defensive specialist Charles Oakley. Their progress hit snags due to yearly coaching changes, but Pat Riley's arrival as the head coach in the 91-92 season, along with John Starks' impact as a pesky guard on the perimeter, put the Knicks over the top as worthy championship contenders.

They made it to the Conference Finals in 1993, losing another time to Jordan and the Bulls (having lost in the semifinal stages in 1992). Jordan's year-long exit from the game paved the way for the Knicks to make their first Finals appearance in 1994, but they lost in 7 games to the Clutch City Rockets as John Starks went on the coldest shooting streak of his career in Game 7.

Penny and Shaq blocked their way in 1995 before Pat Riley left to take over the reins at Miami. Ewing's excellent play continued for 12 seasons before injuries deprived him of his otherworldly athletic abilities. He was a crucial part of the Knicks' run to the Finals in 1999, but he eventually faded into oblivion with a season each at Seattle and Orlando. His Orlando version was a pitiful sight, pretty much like Hakeem in Toronto - you'd rather much have seen them retire than put themselves through those ordeals.

Ewing is one of the greatest centers to ever live, and his archetype of two-way play with jumpshooting ability was followed since him by Shaq and Garnett, among others. Joel Embiid and DeAndre Ayton are two other players who provide striking reminders of the dominant big man, who was also a crucial member of the Dream Team in 1992.