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<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jeff Van Gundy had ventured headlong into the path of a hulking, headstrong center once before, and perhaps he should have known the futility of such gestures when he tried to reroute Patrick Ewing's course five summers ago.
Ewing, one of the greatest players in Knicks history, wanted to leave New York after 15 years as the face of the franchise. Team executives, despite great reservations, were trying to oblige him with a trade.
But after a four-team deal fell through in early September 2000, Van Gundy was given one last chance to change Ewing's mind. He set out for suburban Maryland to throw himself in Ewing's way - much as he once threw himself at the leg of Miami's Alonzo Mourning during an on-court fight. The results were similarly disappointing.
"I tried to talk to him," Van Gundy recalled, "to tell him this was fate, that it didn't go through; should we think about moving on?"
But as Van Gundy learned once again, there was no stopping a determined 7-footer moving with purpose, certainly not one as willful as Ewing. "He was set," Van Gundy said.
Shortly after, the four-team deal was reconstituted, and on Sept. 20, 2000, Ewing got his wish. He was sent to Seattle, ending a long and mostly glorious association with New York. In many respects, the Knicks have still not recovered.
In the wake of that fateful transaction, they have endured four straight losing seasons - their worst stretch in 17 years. They have never replaced Ewing's production, his leadership or his star power. Their payroll is the N.B.A.'s highest, and growing every year, but the results have not matched the dollars spent.</div>
Source
Ewing, one of the greatest players in Knicks history, wanted to leave New York after 15 years as the face of the franchise. Team executives, despite great reservations, were trying to oblige him with a trade.
But after a four-team deal fell through in early September 2000, Van Gundy was given one last chance to change Ewing's mind. He set out for suburban Maryland to throw himself in Ewing's way - much as he once threw himself at the leg of Miami's Alonzo Mourning during an on-court fight. The results were similarly disappointing.
"I tried to talk to him," Van Gundy recalled, "to tell him this was fate, that it didn't go through; should we think about moving on?"
But as Van Gundy learned once again, there was no stopping a determined 7-footer moving with purpose, certainly not one as willful as Ewing. "He was set," Van Gundy said.
Shortly after, the four-team deal was reconstituted, and on Sept. 20, 2000, Ewing got his wish. He was sent to Seattle, ending a long and mostly glorious association with New York. In many respects, the Knicks have still not recovered.
In the wake of that fateful transaction, they have endured four straight losing seasons - their worst stretch in 17 years. They have never replaced Ewing's production, his leadership or his star power. Their payroll is the N.B.A.'s highest, and growing every year, but the results have not matched the dollars spent.</div>
Source
