Jeff Van Gundy: People 'have amnesia' about greatness of Patrick Ewing

After an episode of the ESPN documentary "The Last Dance" chronicled how the New York Knicks blew a 2-0 series lead to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals, Charles Oakley had some harsh criticism for former teammate Patrick Ewing when Oakley suggested Ewing held the Knicks back versus Jordan.

Jeff Van Gundy, former Knicks ex-coach who was an assistant with the club in 1993, recently came to Ewing's defense.

As SNY's Ian Begley wrote, Van Gundy spoke about Ewing with Chris Russo of Mad Dog Sports Radio:

"I think we have amnesia, sometimes, as Knick people, just to how good Ewing was and how well he played. If you're going to be compared to Jordan, then everybody's going to come up short. But if you're compared to a level of greatness?

"I went back and watched the games and looked at the stats because it was intriguing to me, from other people's recollection, 'I was like, this guy is unbelievable.' Even back then, how people try to portray Patrick as not coming through in the clutch. And I'm like, 'Hold on, I was there at every game. I remember this guy carrying us on a nightly basis.'"

While Ewing twice played in the NBA Finals with the Knicks, he never won a championship with the organization. According to Basketball-Reference, Ewing holds the Knicks' franchise records for most points scored, most games played, most minutes played, field goals, two-pointers, free throws, total rebounds, steals, blocks, blocks per game, defensive win shares, win shares, and value over replacement player.

Ewing became a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2008.