New York Gets Heart Transplant a Little Too Late

In the heart of the cold, cold city, Patrick Ewing got his due . . . finally . . . as Madison Square Garden stood to greet the Greatest Ex-Knick of All, applauding, waving signs and sniffling, with no one moved more than Ewing himself.

Isn’t it great to see that under its brusque exterior, New York City has a big heart to go with its two faces?

“This is the town we live and jeer in,” wrote the New York Times’ Mike Wise, “where the same people who gave you ‘Good Riddance’ at your newsstand six months ago can pass off ‘Good to See Ew!’ with a clear conscience this morning.”

He was alluding to the New York Post, which did a lot more than that.

As Ewing’s return neared, the Post ran a full back-page picture of Patrick over the headline: “SONIC BUST.”

Inside, columnist Pete Vecsey noted that after the SuperSonics’ loss in Boston, Ewing was seen “icing down his career.”

Then, the day after Ewing’s ovation, a Post headline announced: “HE’S STILL ST. PATRICK IN MSG RETURN.”

Of course, being New York, whatever it did involved heavy self-congratulations, as when native son Mark Jackson noted, “New York fans have got to be proud of what they did tonight.”

All that warmth . . . you can imagine what it took out of them.

Not to do a big bash-Gotham number, because New York is just everywhere else but more of it, with a tabloid war thrown in. The contemptible things in sports are everywhere, the nothing-counts- but-winning ethic, the hero-or-villain characterization, the world at the feet of its icons or at their throats.

“In Ewing’s prime, unfortunately, he ran into Michael Jordan in his prime and [Houston’s Hakeem] Olajuwon in his prime,” said Knick coach and longtime Ewing defender Jeff Van Gundy, offering a little perspective . . . again.

“No fault of his we didn’t win. But I don’t think that diminishes what he did here at all. That’s what bothers me so much about the media. He doesn’t come up big in big spots? That’s a joke.”

Not that the Knicks were wrong to trade him . . .

At 38, coming off ankle and wrist surgery, Ewing is well past his prime. He scored eight fast points, as if electrified by the moment, before reality set in. The energetic Marcus Camby, a wisp Ewing once would have swatted, wound up with 21 points and 17 rebounds to Ewing’s 12-5.

That made this season’s two-game total, Camby 41-34, Ewing, 22-14.

The problem was the peculiar lack of grace with which the trade was received.

Ewing, who had been such a warrior, who all but left parts of his body on the Garden floor, was slammed for never “opening up his heart.”

The Knicks, it was said, would be better without him, or at least more fun.

Of course, barely had he left town when the Knicks began pursuing creaky, 35-year-old Dikembe Mutombo, whom they wound up losing to division rival Philadelphia.

Nor did the Knicks get better or more fun.

They’re still grinding it out, just with smaller players.

Of the six players they got for Ewing, three are gone. Travis Knight is stashed on the injured list, Luc Longley rarely plays and Glen Rice, who got a four-year, $36-million contract through age 37, doesn’t start. With Jackson’s arrival, the Latrell Sprewell-Allan Houston backcourt is dead and Rice may play even less.

Van Gundy still has them No. 4 in the East, but that’s no biggie when you charge $1,200 for courtside seats and talk about titles all the time.

With Ewing’s contract running out, Knick fans are asking, wouldn’t it be nice having Our Patrick back on a $4-million veteran’s exception?

However, insiders think he’s likelier to join the archrival Miami Heat and his beloved Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning.

“He’s probably the most loyal person I’ve ever been around,” Van Gundy said. “He’s with you 100%--teammates, coaches. I just love his straightforwardness and loyalty. To me, that’s his most endearing quality.”

He may be the best guy they never got, or cared, to know.

It’s too late now. The next time Ewing’s in the Garden, he may not look so endearing.

FACES AND FIGURES

* Why did David Falk announce the Lakers were interested in Rod Strickland, while Phil Jackson was signaling his lack of interest and Laker officials were insisting nothing was happening? Falk might have been trying to scare Portland General Manager Trader Bob Whitsitt into pouncing on Strickland first. Of course, the Trail Blazers’ chemistry is already bubbling and adding another point guard will set off volatile Damon Stoudamire.

For the record, Stoudamire says it’s OK, sort of. “The way I look at it, we’ve got 23 games to go,” he said last week. “So let’s just go on ahead and see what happens because nobody is promised to be here next year anyway if we don’t win it this season.”

In other words, Stoudamire, who has been thinking about heading elsewhere for years, thinks he can stand it for two more months. Then he can ask to be traded, if need be. As usual, this move would serve Falk’s interests better than anyone else’s.

* Breaking up that old cuckoos’ nest of theirs: TNT’s lively crew of Danny Ainge and John Thompson, broadcasting the fading SuperSonics’ loss to the Knicks, ran several replays of Vin Baker loafing. Said Ainge, “He walks up and down the court, then he gets taken out of the game and acts very frustrated and angry because he’s being taken out.”

And Ainge on Gary Payton: “I just wish Gary would see the game more from a Jason Kidd or a Mark Jackson perspective and not look to get his own [points] every night.” Answered Thompson, “Well, that will never happen in our lifetime.”

Meanwhile, Payton, acknowledging the likelihood he’ll be traded and not seeming to mind: “If it happens, it happens. I am not going to sit here and say if we don’t make the playoffs, I am mad because they are going to try to ship me out.”

* What does Jalen Rose do when he’s not complaining? Now he’s upset that NBC won’t show those riveting Pacers more. Said Rose, “That’s not surprising for a team that couldn’t get a representative in D.C. [for All-Star weekend]. We couldn’t even get a 2-Ball team.” He’s right, that’s low.

* Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal on Kevin Garnett: “He’s like the grandfather of the high school guys [who jumped to the pros]. He made it easier for the rest of us. He’s one of those guys you never have to get motivated to play against. He’s a high-energy guy who makes everybody play harder, even the opponents. He’s also a very positive guy. He’s one of those guys who, if you’re struggling, he tries to pick you up. If you make a move on him, he compliments you. He’s not one of those guys who bashes you all the time.”

* The worst midseason trade could turn out to be Toronto’s sending Jackson--and his four-year, $16-million contract through age 39--to the Knicks. Pending free agent Antonio Davis, who’s close to Jackson, may now be even likelier to leave. “When my time comes, I’ll have to weigh everything,” Davis said. “Like I said, I’ll always be a Mark Jackson fan.”

Also, Toronto insiders say if Davis goes, Vince Carter will be that much more likely to follow in 2003.

* Peace, it’s wonderful/brief: Denver’s Antonio McDyess on Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal after the Lakers’ loss at Denver: “Kobe and Shaq, they’re pretty good guys, pretty nice and fun to be around. They were sitting next to each other at the All-Star game. All the attention was on them because they’re the Lakers and they are Kobe and Shaq. The tension that has been talked about between them, the media is going to run to that. I didn’t see that. I don’t know what happened with all that little tension. But when we were playing [Wednesday night], all I saw was Shaq giving him pounds [congratulatory handshakes], saying: ‘Way to shoot the ball. Way to take over the game.’ You would never think that anything was wrong between those two.”

* With everyone winking at pretend injuries, teams habitually stash players on “the injured list.” Chicago’s Khalid El-Amin, who just went on, asked what was wrong: “It’s my turn.”