Patrick Ewing annoyed at being 'accosted' by MSG security

[This Just In]

Patrick Ewing annoyed at being 'accosted' by MSG security, jokes 'everybody in this building should know who the hell I am'

[aggypryd]

LOL!!

Wear your credentials, Pat!

[hoyasaxa2003]

In my opinion, this really isn't a good look for Ewing, and comes across as entitled. At first, I thought he might be joking - and I think partly he was - but it comes across more serious than a joke (and the fact that Dolan issued a response indicates it wasn't taken as a joke). Especially in this era of COVID, tracking people's movements, etc., I don't think it's too much to ask everyone to show credentials, etc. Celebrities/well known people who use their fame to get advantages over things that are simple common courtesies just get under my skin.

Also, MSG was Patrick's house 20+ years ago. Someone turning 30 this year was 9-10 years old when he last played for the Knicks. So, there's a good chance that many of the security personnel, etc., especially if they don't follow basketball, have no idea who he is. Maybe sad (and it means we are all getting older), but true. If I had to guess, the MSG employee handbook doesn't have Patrick's picture in it as an VIP.

[hoyaatheart55]

I think his comments are being blown out of proportion. It was funny.

[professorhoya]

[bicentennial]

If you retire 5 jerseys in the history of your organization, I would think the gatekeepers who work every day in the building should know who those 5 people are! I also think if you are 7 foot tall and there are only 1000 people in the whole world that height and you are famous, you are allowed to be surprised not to be recognized. I would also think any of the coaches of the 11 teams playing in the building would appropriately be upset not to be recognized particularly on the second day the teams are playing.

[DoctorHoya]

Dude, just wear your credentials. Security is there for a reason and trying to do their job. Bad look

[joey0403p]

I think he was mostly joking....hope after a win today he says something like that

[wponds]

Mar 12, 2021 14:38:28 GMT -5 joey0403p said:

I think he was mostly joking....hope after a win today he says something like that

Yeah, to me it seemed like one of those things where he was surprised and caught off guard, but not like he's trying to get anyone in trouble.

[practice]

He's clearly joking ... but apparently some people don't have a sense of humor! I love it.

[skunk]

Clearly joking I dont know how anyone could even take it as that serious

[RockawayHoya]

Clearly the '21-'22 WAG shirt slogan has to be "Everyone in the building should know who the hell we are."

[daveg023]

Yea I was kinda surprised how the media ran with this today like Ewing was seething and being an egomaniac. Hearing how Ewing fumbles through some of his jokes at press conferences, I took this as nothing more than him trying to be funny albeit slightly annoyed.

Anyway, if nothing else people are talking about the Hoyas today and their win over Nova.

[professorhoya]

[AvantGuardHoya]

Much ado about nothing! SMDH.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Mar 12, 2021 14:19:08 GMT -5 DoctorHoya said:

Dude, just wear your credentials. Security is there for a reason and trying to do their job. Bad look

Exactly. I am sure there are plenty of other well known people at Madison Square Garden this week who have also had to show it. Maybe it was a joke, in which case fine, but it wasn't abundantly clear. This is not an issue of whether the staff recognized him. Rather, it's an issue of whether their stopping him is a big deal that merited comment, and it isn't.

Years ago, I was doing a media internship in New York City, and the Chief of Police, who I will not name, came to visit our location. Rather than coming into the building and checking in, like everybody else, including other "famous" people who did that very thing, the Chief of Police blasted through security (who was yelling at him to not blow through security in the building) and completely ignored them. That type of entitlement really angers me, as it reflects a lack of common decency and respect, and an inflated sense of self-importance.

I'll give Ewing the benefit of the doubt, but it still rubs me the wrong way.

[sleepyjackson21]

It's Ewing. It's MSG. He's 7ft tall. They should know him.

[Deleted]

C'mon man everybody should know who Ewing is. I don't care who you are or, when you were born! He's an historical figure. I bet you people in Houston know who Olojuwan is. I bet you people in Chicago know who MJ is. Unless you have been living under a rock in NY for all your life, how can you not know who Ewing is? Hell, if I saw some NY basketball legends who started their careers before I was born such as Walt Frazier or Willis Reed, I would know who the hell they are! And, I am from DC!

The fact of the matter is, the Knicks brass don't treat their former basketball employees with a sense of belonging and it is because of Dolan!  The same thing happened to Charles Oakley.

[Deleted]

Mar 12, 2021 13:52:21 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

In my opinion, this really isn't a good look for Ewing, and comes across as entitled. At first, I thought he might be joking - and I think partly he was - but it comes across more serious than a joke (and the fact that Dolan issued a response indicates it wasn't taken as a joke). Especially in this era of COVID, tracking people's movements, etc., I don't think it's too much to ask everyone to show credentials, etc. Celebrities/well known people who use their fame to get advantages over things that are simple common courtesies just get under my skin.

Also, MSG was Patrick's house 20+ years ago. Someone turning 30 this year was 9-10 years old when he last played for the Knicks. So, there's a good chance that many of the security personnel, etc., especially if they don't follow basketball, have no idea who he is. Maybe sad (and it means we are all getting older), but true. If I had to guess, the MSG employee handbook doesn't have Patrick's picture in it as an VIP.

He probably issued a statement because media was calling and asking for one but to me it was clearly tongue and cheek and he was just having fun after they advanced.

[professorhoya]

Mar 12, 2021 16:48:58 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

Mar 12, 2021 14:19:08 GMT -5 DoctorHoya said:

Dude, just wear your credentials. Security is there for a reason and trying to do their job. Bad look

Exactly. I am sure there are plenty of other well known people at Madison Square Garden this week who have also had to show it. Maybe it was a joke, in which case fine, but it wasn't abundantly clear. This is not an issue of whether the staff recognized him. Rather, it's an issue of whether their stopping him is a big deal that merited comment, and it isn't.

Years ago, I was doing a media internship in New York City, and the Chief of Police, who I will not name, came to visit our location. Rather than coming into the building and checking in, like everybody else, including other "famous" people who did that very thing, the Chief of Police blasted through security (who was yelling at him to not blow through security in the building) and completely ignored them. That type of entitlement really angers me, as it reflects a lack of common decency and respect, and an inflated sense of self-importance.

I'll give Ewing the benefit of the doubt, but it still rubs me the wrong way.

Except most people wouldn't know what the Chief of Police looks like. So flawed analogy.

Ewing, the player, is a celebrity in NYC, and as such, the price of fame is you lose your privacy. You can't go anywhere without people wanting a selfie, or wanting to meet you. So the treatment of him is not going to be the same no matter what.

Ewing is highly recognizable in NYC and there's no way a group of security wouldn't know who he is. The fact that other players and celebrities have had issues with Dolan/MSG shows a pattern of problems with the latter.