Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing was born on Aug. 5, 1962. The retiree played in 1,039 games for the New York Knicks as starting center.

Currently an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats, Ewing is regarded as one of the greatest players in the Knicks’ history and is an 11-time NBA All-Star.

Earlier in his career, Ewing was named the 16th all-time greatest college player by ESPN and took the gold as a member of the 1984 and 1992 U.S. Men's National Basketball Olympics team.

Throughout Ewing’s childhood, he played cricket and soccer and he first learned to play basketball at the age of 12 in 1975 after moving from Kingston, Jamaica, to join his family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 2000, he was traded by the Knicks to the Seattle Super Sonics. Then in 2003 during a ceremony held at Madison Square Garden, his jersey number 33, was retired by the Knicks.

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 (Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)