Kenny Smith, the point guard on the 1994 champion Rockets, said Patrick Ewing never received the kind of co-star support that defined other elite big men. Smith noted the Knicks pushed Houston to seven games in the Finals and suggested a second All-NBA level teammate would have tilted the outcome. The series ended with Houston winning Game 7, 90-84, at home after both teams split the first six contests by an average margin of six points.

Hakeem Olajuwon posted 26.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game on 50 percent shooting while logging 43.1 minutes a night. Ewing countered with 18.9 points on 36 percent shooting but grabbed 12.4 rebounds and set a Finals record with 30 blocks. The Rockets' supporting cast, including Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell and a young Robert Horry, supplied the complementary scoring and defense that New York lacked beyond Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks.

The 1994 Knicks relied on a physical, half-court style built around Ewing's interior presence and Pat Riley's defensive schemes. Without another creator or scorer to ease the load, Ewing played heavy minutes through a grueling Eastern Conference playoff run and still nearly carried his team to the title. Houston's depth allowed Olajuwon to conserve energy for the decisive moments while teammates handled secondary creation and perimeter defense.

That lack of roster balance shaped the Knicks' trajectory for years afterward. Ewing remained the face of the franchise through the late 1990s, yet the team reached the Finals only once more, in 1999, before a long drought. Rival organizations paired their stars with additional high-level talent, a pattern that left New York chasing parity while Houston secured back-to-back titles.

The comment surfaces amid ongoing discussion of Ewing's legacy and the Rockets' own modern rebuild. Front offices today prioritize acquiring multiple creators early, a direct response to the isolation Ewing faced in 1994. Any Knicks roster construction that adds a true second option would test whether the franchise can finally escape the shadow of that seven-game shortfall.