WASHINGTON — The Knicks received a big surprise upon their 10 a.m. arrival at Capital One Arena for Monday’s morning shootaround ahead of their preseason opener against the Wizards.
There was Patrick Ewing, who made the short drive from Georgetown. The Hoyas head coach/Knicks legend delivered a 10-minute speech that had Knicks center Enes Kanter ecstatic, rookie Mitchell Robinson enlightened and new coach David Fizdale happy he made the call.
“Everybody was shocked and clapping,” Kanter said.
Fizdale worked with Ewing’s former coach, Pat Riley in Miami, but had known “the Big Fella” even before that, 15 years ago, when on Atlanta’s staff with Larry Drew, a Ewing compadre.