What do one of the NBA’s all-time greats and a promising racehorse have in common? It sounds like a silly anecdote, but the answer is simply a name: Ewing.

Patrick Ewing played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association after winning the Naismith Award as men’s college basketball’s player of the year in 1984-’85 for the Georgetown Hoyas. The Kingston, Jamaica native was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985-’86 after being selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.

A 7-foot center, Ewing averaged 21 points and 9.8 rebounds over his Hall of Fame career that included 11 All-Star appearances and seven times on the All-NBA team. Multiple outlets have produced All-Time top 100 players lists for the NBA and Ewing’s name appears on all of them.

Ewing's dominant debut win. (Coglianese photos)

On July 5, 2025, at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York, a 2-year-old racehorse named Ewing made his career debut and dominated by 12 lengths in a 5 ½-furlong dirt sprint. The gray or roan colt’s sire (father) is Knicks Go, the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Ewing is from his first crop of runners.

Ewing, like his namesake, showed potential as a prospect and sold for $585,000 at a 2-year-olds in training auction in April to the partnership of D. J. Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Kenneth Freirich. The first two are co-owners of popular Grade 1-winning 3-year-old Sandman and Ewing shares the same trainer as Sandman, Mark Casse.

“He came out of the race great,” Casse said. “He does everything just effortlessly.”

Ewing has morning-line odds of 8-5 for his stakes debut in the $200,000 Saratoga Special Stakes on Saturday.

One would imagine Ewing might not be the last current or retired Knickerbocker to have a racehorse named after him. Perhaps there is another Knicks Go colt out there with owners considering names like Clyde, Frazier, Starks, Oakley, or Brunson. Heck, Thibs would be appropriate for a Knicks Go colt.

When Nyquist, named after National Hockey League star winger Gustav Nyquist, won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2015 and Kentucky Derby in 2016, it was clear he would go on to a career as a stallion. Suspicions that he might spark a bevy of hockey names proved accurate – see Bedard, Brodeur, Gretzky the Great, Lemieux, Sean Avery, and The Great One below – but racehorses have been named after many stars in other sports over the years.

Below is a sampling of some of my U.S.-based favorites, starting with 1924 and 1925 Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Sarazen to present day. Feel free to chime in on social media with some of your own favorites.

Bedard — The Nyquist colt named after Chicago Blackhawks rising star center Connor Bedard (not former Orioles left-handed picker Erik Bedard) placed in a Canadian classic in 2024.

Boitano — Graded stakes-placed on the racetrack, the talented gelding by Nyquist was named after an athlete from a different discipline on the ice, Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano.

Brooks Robinson (WikiMedia Commons)

Brooks Robinson — This Maryland-bred by Not For Love was named after the best fielder ever to man the hot corner, the legendary Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame third baseman. The racehorse won five of 26 starts.

Brodeur — This one feels like a trap, especially to a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan. Stakes-placed Brodeur, by Nyquist, is named after New Jersey Devils star goalie Martin Brodeur, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and four-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top netminder.

Chris Evert — A Hall of Fame racehorse whose namesake was a Hall of Fame tennis player known as America’s tennis sweetheart. The 1974 champion 3-year-old filly won 10 of 15 starts, including three Grade 1 races.

Degrom — The racehorse named is for electric but injury-prone Major League Baseball pitcher Jacob DeGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner. DeGrom won 10 of 41 starts from 2016 to 2020.

Dehere — Named for Seton Hall men’s basketball star Terry Dehere, the Big East Player of the Year in 1992-’93 who played six seasons in the NBA, the racehorse Dehere was named champion 2-year-old male in 1993.

Dimaggio — A graded stakes winner in the 1970s, Dimaggio, by Bold Hitter, was named after the New York Yankees legendary outfielder who fashioned an incredible 56-game hitting streak during his Hall of Fame career.

Ewing — The promising colt by Knicks Go has his work cut out for him if he hopes to achieve as much as his namesake, the Hall of Fame NBA center.

Garoppolo — He won two of eight starts from 2020 to 2022 and made a couple of stakes appearances while his namesake, NFL QB Jimmy Garoppolo, fared better against elite competition with a 4-2 mark in the playoffs to match a strong regular season record as a starter over 11 seasons.

Preakness runner-up Gosger. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Gosger — The 2025 Preakness and NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes runner-up was named after MLB journeyman Jim Gosger, who played professional baseball in the 1960s and ’70s with six different clubs.

Gretzky the Great — A Grade 1 winner by Nyquist named for the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky.

Gronkowski — The 2018 Belmont Stakes runner-up to Triple Crown winner Justify, Gronkowski’s namesake is four-time All-Pro tight end and four-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski.

Halladay — Halladay, by War Front, won the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap in 2020 among three stakes wins. Namesake Roy Halladay was the more accomplished athlete with two Cy Young Awards in a Hall of Fame career as a tenacious pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Joe Frazier — “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier is one of boxing’s true legends, an Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight champ best known for his epic battles with Muhammad Ali. Joe Frazier the racehorse was a workmanlike gelding who won seven of 29 starts but never came close to the success of his namesake.

Kobe’s Back — Five-time stakes winner Kobe’s Back began his career about two months after NBA Hall of Famer and all-time great Kobe Bryant ruptured his Achilles tendon. Bryant returned to play two more seasons; he subsequently died in a tragic helicopter crash Jan. 26, 2020.

Lemieux — A stakes-winning Florida-bred by Nyquist, Lemieux was named after Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux, the number one pick in the 1984 NHL Draft who led the Pens to back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and ’92.

Legendary heavyweight Rocky Marciano. (Public Domain)

Marciano — The 2001 Tesio Stakes winner also ran in that year’s Preakness Stakes. He was named after the undefeated legendary boxer Rocky Marciano, the relentless knockout specialist who was the heavyweight champion from 1952 until his retirement in 1956 at age 32. Marciano, the racehorse, was sired by the stallion Two Punch.

Nadal — In 2020, Nadal won all four of his starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby (held in two divisions that year), before an injury knocked him off the Kentucky Derby trail. He is now a stallion in Japan. Nadal was named for one of the most revered players in tennis history, Rafael Nadal, who has won a record 14 French Opens among 22 career Grand Slam victories and won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in 2011.

Nyquist — The 2015 champion 2-year-old male went on to become the first unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner since Smarty Jones. He was named for NHL star Gustav Nyquist by owner and devout hockey fan J. Paul Reddam and his success begot dozens of hockey-themed racehorse names.

Sarazen — Named for one of the greatest golfers of all time, Gene Sarazen, who won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 1922, the first two of his seven majors. Sarazen, the racehorse, debuted in 1923 and was Horse of the Year in 1924 and 1925.

Sean Avery — A Grade 1-winning racehorse who finished first in half of his 14 career starts, Sean Avery’s namesake was a pro hockey player who played left wing for multiple teams and built a reputation as an agitator not afraid to mix things up with the opponent, leading the NHL in penalty minutes twice.

Syndergaard —A flame-throwing right-handed pitcher, nicknamed “Thor,” Noah Syndergaard rose to prominence with the New York Mets, dazzling in his rookie season and pitching that fall in the 2015 World Series. He made the All-Star team the following year but mounting injuries later slowed his career and fastball. His namesake also started out hot, winning a stakes race in his second start as a 2-year-old, and continued to be competitive at that level through his 6-year-old season in 2020.

Gretzky exhibit at Hall of Fame (WikiMedia Commons/Erik Forsberg)

The Great One —Grade 2-placed The Great One is another racehorse by Nyquist named in honor of Wayne Gretzky, whose nickname is “The Great One.” Gretzky is the all-time points leader in NHL history and has more career assists (1,963) than any other player has total points (goals and assists).

Tikkanen — 1994 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Tikkanen was named after one of Wayne Gretzky’s teammates with the Edmonton Oilers. Pesky winger Esa Tikkanen carved out a reputation as one of the best defensive forwards in the sport while winning five Stanley Cup championships.

Tyson — Heavyweight boxer “Iron” Mike Tyson’s fights in the late 1980s and early 1990s were must-see events as he carved through opponents and carved out a reputation as one of the sport’s all-time great knockout artists. Multiple graded stakes winner Tyson, by Tapit, was named by co-owner and co-breeder John Sikura in the boxer’s honor.

Utley — Philadelphia Phillies All-Star second baseman and 2008 World Series champion Chase Utley was beloved in “the City of Brotherly Love” for his heady and relentless playing style. His namesake on the racetrack was a Grade 2 winner by Smart Strike who won six of 25 career starts.