Patrick Ewing To Interview With Bobcats Next Week

The Charlotte Bobcats need someone to turn them around next year and owner Michael Jordan thinks that he knows just the guy. Patrick Ewing, Jordan’s former rival and current assistant coach of the Orlando Magic, is expeted to interview for the position next week.

The Bobcats haven’t made a formal announcement but an anonymous source told the Associated Press that Ewing is a top candidate for the job.

The Bobcats have already interviewed Golden State assistant coach Michael Malone. Bobcats assistant Stephen Silas is also up for the job. Brian Shaw, from Indiana, Nate Tibbetts, from Cleveland, and Mike Dunlap, from St. Johns, are also under consideration.

Whoever the Bobcats choose, they’ll have their work cut out for them next year. The Bobcats finished with a 7-59 record last season, giving them the worst winning percentage (.106) in NBA history.

General manager Rich Cho said that the 2012 season may scare away some coaches. But those coaches, according to Cho, aren’t the candidates that they are looking for.

Cho said:

“Those are the type of coaches we don’t want to bring in… I want somebody that will relish the opportunity and look at it as a challenge. It’s really easy to go to a winning team and take that opportunity. But I want somebody in here that’s going to look at this as a great opportunity and a challenge and a chance to build something from the ground up.”

The Bobcats haven’t said much about Ewing yet but Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that he’d love to see Ewing in a head coaching position. Van Gundy said:

“It’s been mystifying to me that assistants that don’t have near the experience that Patrick has have been getting jobs…. He’s ready. And I hope this offseason will be his time.”

Patrick Ewing was a star at Georgetown before moving onto the NBA with the New York Knicks. Ewing played from 1985 to 2000 with New York.

Do you think Patrick Ewing would make a good head coach?