Georgetown University basketball coach and NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing tested positive for COVID-19 and is being treated at a hospital.
“This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly,” the All-Star for the Hoyas in college and the New York Knicks in the NBA said in a statement issued by the university.
“I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Now more than ever, I want to thank the healthcare workers and everyone on the front lines. I’ll be fine and we will all get through this.”
The school said the 57-year-old Ewing is the only member of its men’s program who has contracted the coronavirus.
As a player, the 7-foot Ewing helped Georgetown win the 1984 NCAA men’s basketball championship and reach two other title games.
During Ewing’s four years playing for John Thompson Jr., Georgetown went 121-23, a winning percentage of .840.
He was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 draft after the Knicks won the NBA’s first lottery. Ewing wound up leading New York to the 1994 NBA Finals, where they lost to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.
Ewing played 17 seasons in the NBA, 15 with the Knicks. He was an NBA All-Star in 11 of his first 12 seasons, all with the Knicks.
A member of the United States’ gold-medal winning Olympic teams in 1984 and 1992, Ewing was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
After retiring as a player, he spent 15 years as an assistant or associate coach with four teams in the pros. In April 2017, he returned to Georgetown for his first job as a head coach at any level, replacing Thompson’s son in that job with the Hoyas.
In his first three seasons at his alma mater, Ewing’s teams have gone a combined 49-46 with zero trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2019-20, Georgetown finished the season with seven consecutive losses and a 15-17 record.
Last week, sophomore guard Mac McClung announced that he was planning to enter the NCAA transfer portal, joining four other Georgetown players who said during the season they would be switching schools.
—With files from Reuters