NEW YORK -- Patrick Ewing retired Tuesday without doing the one thing he came to New York to do.

Hang a championship banner from the Garden's rafters. With Ewing, it was always something.

Michael Jordan got in the way.

	Patrick Ewing embraces ex-teammate Charles Oakley, right, after announcing his retirement.

Hakeem Olajuwon got in the way.

Even a teammate, John Starks, once got in the way.

But when you examine Ewing's 15 seasons in New York, there was always something missing:

Another elite player to help Ewing complete his mission.

"When you look at Patrick's teams in New York, he never really had that great player to work with,'' Orlando coach Doc Rivers said last spring, when Ewing was playing what turned out to be his final games, as a member of the Magic. "I know, because I was his teammate and I know the kind of talent we had in New York.''

A lot of good talent. But other than Ewing, no great talent.

And that translated into no titles. The Knicks won the lottery in 1985 and Dave DeBusschere was the team's leading executive. His reaction to winning the rights to Ewing -- pounding the table where he sat -- spoke volumes about what everyone projected for the great Georgetown center. As DeBusschere later said, "I thought he was going to win us a lot of titles.''

But Ewing failed to deliver one, which die-hard Knicks fans never have forgotten. Some never have forgiven Ewing for that glaring hole in his Hall of Fame resume, which might be taking things too far. Early in his career, Knicks management never provided him with a supporting cast that included that other perennial All-Star. Later in his career, after he shattered his shooting wrist, he never was the same.

"He's certainly in the top three,'' the great Walt Frazier once said when asked where Ewing ranks in Knicks' history. "The only difference is Patrick never won a championship.''

Which is why Frazier and Willis Reed are regarded as the two top Knicks of all-time. They've got the championship hardware to back up their cases. Ewing doesn't.

Looking back, it's easy to see why Ewing fell short, even when he had a Hall of Fame coach, Pat Riley, on his side.

From Trent Tucker to Starks to Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell, Ewing never had the luxury of teaming with an ace perimeter scorer who could take some of the pressure off and help get the Knicks a championship. It almost happened in 1994, the closest Ewing came to winning it all. The Knicks went out and acquired Rolando Blackman, a four-time All-Star in Dallas, a season before. But Blackman hurt his back before ever getting to New York and never filled that role.

"To this day,'' Blackman said later, "I thought I could have been the difference.''

Starks tried to be that player in Houston in Games 6 and 7 of the 1994 Finals, when all the Knicks needed was one win to secure the title. But first Starks had his game-winning try in Game 6 blocked by Olajuwon. And in Game 7, thinking he was Isiah Thomas or somebody, he launched 18 shots and missed 16. Some people gave Riley heat for never finding a way to get Ewing the ball. Others blamed Starks, a CBA product and one-time bagger at a grocery store.

But looking at the bigger picture, Ewing was outplayed in that series by another future Hall of Famer, Olajuwon, who didn't exactly have a great player on his side, either.

After 1994, Ewing took the Knicks to only one more Finals, in 1999. But he could not even get on the floor against the Spurs because of a leg injury. Forlornly, he watched from the bench as David Robinson and Tim Duncan carved up Marcus Camby and a lame Larry Johnson and easily took the Knicks in five games.

"I'll always believe I could have made a difference in that series,'' he said.

But without an All-Star teammate, Ewing could never make the difference against Jordan. Five times the Knicks played Jordan's Bulls, and five times Ewing was sent home for the summer. There was no shame in that. As Lenny Wilkens once said about losing to Jordan, "I'm not the only guy he did it to.''

But no player suffered more at the hands of Jordan than Ewing. It started back in college when Jordan, a freshman, stuck in the game-winner against Ewing's Georgetown team in the 1982 championship game. It continued when the Bulls and Knicks had their classic showdowns in the 90's. When Jordan left after the 1998 championship, he talked at his retirement ceremony about what his absence would do to Ewing.

"Patrick,'' Jordan said, "he won't be able to live with himself.''

But Ewing was able to shrug of Jordan's exit, just as he shrugged off every season-ending defeat. Invariably, he would say, "I still think we're the better team.'' That's line drove Knicks fans crazy, especially the ones who still remember the team's last title, 30 years ago.

Fact is, the Knicks never were the better team because Jordan was Jordan and Ewing was what he was: An outstanding scorer who never lived up to expectations.

Ewing got his share of rebounds as a Knick, but didn't develop into the type of franchise center everyone expected. The Knicks thought they were getting the second coming of Bill Russell. But Ewing never won a rebounding title.

	For all his great shooting and a marvelous touch rarely seen from a 7-footer, Ewing never won a scoring title. For all his dominance, he never won the MVP. He made the All-Star Game 11 times, but the first-team All-NBA team just once.

For all his great shooting and a marvelous touch rarely seen from a 7-footer, Ewing never won a scoring title. For all his dominance, he never won the MVP. He made the All-Star Game 11 times, but the first-team All-NBA team just once.

"You could not have done more for an organization,'' Jeff Van Gundy said about his favorite player. "Unfortunately, he didn't win a championship. But he conducted himself like a champion and put more into trying to win a championship than anyone.''

That's the consolation prize for all Knicks fans.

From the top, among the great centers, there's Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Among today's players, only Shaquille O'Neal has a chance to join those immortals, and Shaq has been doing everything in his power the last three years to put himself in that class.

On the next tier, you've got Moses Malone and Olajuwon. Both were regular-season and Finals MVPs. Both won more than one rebounding title. Both were fixtures on 1st-team All-NBA teams.

Go down another tier and that's where you'll find Patrick Ewing. Not a bad place, but not the one New York expected.

Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.