Jordan tells Ewing he won't get Bobcats job

Another head-coaching job has gone by Patrick Ewing's wayside and it looks like the big guy didn't even make it to the second round.

Yahoo.com reports that Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has informed his good pal Ewing that he will not get the vacant head-coaching position he interviewed for two weeks ago.  After an interview with Charlotte management, Jordan personally reached out to Ewing to tell him that he was eliminated as a candidate to coach the Bobcats.

The former New York Knicks center faced competition for the job from former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, former Blazers coach Nate McMillan and Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Malone.

The real story seems to be whether or not Charlotte wins the NBA lottery tonight and gets a chance to draft Kentucky's Anthony Davis before it opens up a second round of interviews.  Davis is arguably the only franchise player in the draft and other coaching candidates could throw their hats into the ring if Davis becomes a Bobcat.

Ewing— an assistant coach for the past five seasons with the Orlando Magic— is a close friend of Jordan's.  They share the same agent, David Falk, and were teammates on the original Olympic "Dream Team." Jordan even gave Ewing a prominent role in his animated movie "Space Jam" in 1996.

Ewing's close ties with Jordan may have actually worked against him.  Jordan has been criticized for hiring too many of his buddies and yes-men throughout the years and Ewing fit that bill to a tee.

With the firing of Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, Ewing found himself available for work.  He worked with Jeff Van Gundy  in Houston before joining the Magic and his name has been tossed around as a head coach before.  Last spring, Ewing had an interview with the Detroit Pistons and impressed general manager Joe Dumars.

Despite being rivals on the court, Ewing and Jordan were close friends off it.  It might be a blessing in disguise for Ewing to be eliminated from the Bobcats job.  The team was one of the worst in NBA history (7-59) and there are questions about Jordan's financial commitment to putting together a winning team.  A first time head coach in Charlotte might be a tough place to break your cherry.

Hey, maybe there is a chance that "Space Jam 2" can get the green light now.