WASHINGTON, 4 July 2003 — Chinese center Yao Ming has a new expert tutor — National Basketball Association legend Patrick Ewing.
Ewing reached a deal to be an assistant coach for the NBA’s Houston Rockets here on Wednesday just hours after being released from the final two months of his contract as an assistant coach with the NBA’s Washington Wizards.
The Rockets, who became a playoff contender last season with 2.26m giant Yao in his first NBA season, hired Jeff Van Gundy as their coach last month, replacing Rudy Tomjanovich, who is still fighting off bladder cancer. Van Gundy coached Ewing while both were with the New York Knicks and Ewing was a logical choice to serve as a mentor for Yao, teaching the 2002 top draft pick the lessons he has learned through 17 seasons of toiling in the NBA. Holding career averages of 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.45 blocks, Ewing stands as one of 13 players in NBA history with 20,000 career points and 10,000 career rebounds.
In NBA history, Ewing ranks 13th all-time with 24,815 points, 20th all-time with 11,607 rebounds and fifth all-time with 2,894 blocks. “Patrick was one of the greatest centers to play the game and he will be an invaluable asset as a young assistant,” Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said.
After announcing his retirement last September, Ewing was lured to Washington by Michael Jordan to serve as an assistant coach for the first time.
