Patrick Ewing was ‘stopped and accosted’ at Madison Square Garden during Big East tournament

Former New York Knicks star and Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing is currently in his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater Georgetown. While the Hoyas haven’t had a breakthrough since Ewing took over, they did pull off a shocking upset in the Big East tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Georgetown defeated Villanova, 72-71, at Madison Square Garden in a game no one expected them to win.

As Ewing celebrated the victory over ‘Nova, he said “this is my house.” Ewing has his retired number hanging in the rafters at MSG from his glory days with the Knicks, so he isn’t wrong.

What seemed like a fun moment at the time quickly took on a more sobering tone.

Ewing revealed in his post-game press conference that he kept getting stopped by members of security asking to see his credentials for being near the floor. Shouldn’t anyone working in Madison Square Garden know who Ewing is? You would think so, but he was still getting hassled as he led his team in the Big East tournament.

You can watch Ewing’s full remarks here. He said he would have to call James Dolan if it kept being a problem.

This is of course not an entirely new problem for famous faces related to the Knicks at MSG. Former Knicks big man Charles Oakley was approached by security guards and then ejected and arrested at a game a few years back. Super fan and award winning filmmaker Spike Lee also got into an altercation with security over which entrance he was using at the Garden last season.

It’s a bummer to see Ewing frustrated after such a great victory for Georgetown. This should be a night where everyone is talking about his team’s big win, not that he was hassled by security.

Ewing and Georgetown return to the Garden on Friday when they play No. 5 seed Seton Hall in the Big East tournament semifinals. Please let Pat live.