Patrick Ewing Recalls How Rick Pitino’s Decision Led Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to School Him: “Rick, What Did I Tell You?”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s late-career dominance remained potent enough to challenge even elite centers like Patrick Ewing, despite widespread assumptions that age had diminished his impact. During the final three seasons of his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar averaged just 14.0 points per game, which led some opponents to underestimate him. One such example came during Rick Pitino’s tenure as head coach of the New York Knicks, when he chose not to double-team Kareem against the Lakers, believing the veteran center was no longer the same force. Ewing later recalled warning Pitino that Abdul-Jabbar was still dangerous, only for Kareem to punish the Knicks with a run of six straight skyhooks over him.
The matchup illustrated how even near the end of his career, Abdul-Jabbar could still control games with precision, intelligence, and one of basketball’s most iconic moves. Pitino coached the Knicks in the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons, which aligned with the final two years of Kareem’s playing days. Yet Abdul-Jabbar continued to make his presence felt. In a Lakers-Knicks game on January 22, 1988, he outscored Ewing 24-21 while shooting 61.1 percent from the field. In the following season, even as Ewing was emerging into his All-NBA and All-Defensive Team prime, Kareem still averaged 13.0 points across their two regular-season meetings.
Ewing’s reflections also highlighted the respect he had for Abdul-Jabbar’s place in NBA history. He acknowledged that Kareem often does not receive the recognition he deserves in all-time great discussions, despite a career defined by longevity, skill, and unmatched scoring efficiency. That respect extended to later years as well. When Pat Riley, who had coached Abdul-Jabbar in his prime, took over as Knicks coach in 1991, he wanted Ewing to develop a skyhook of his own. Ewing declined, explaining that the shot belonged to Kareem and was uniquely suited to him. He described himself as a jump shooter and emphasized that Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook was not merely effective but exceptionally difficult to replicate.
The story serves as a reminder of how players can remain dangerous long after their physical peak has passed, especially when they combine technique, experience, and basketball IQ. Abdul-Jabbar may have been older, but he was still capable of overwhelming younger stars and exposing tactical mistakes. For Ewing and the Knicks, that lesson came directly from one of the greatest centers ever to play the game.
