Basketball legend Patrick Ewing tests positive for coronavirus

Basketball Hall of Famer and Georgetown men’s basketball coach Patrick Ewing said Friday he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

Ewing, 57, tweeted, “This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly. I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.”

Ewing, who won an NCAA championship in 1984 as a Georgetown player, said he wanted to thank health care workers and everyone on the front lines of the pandemic.

“I’ll be fine and we will all get through this,” Ewing said.

The university said Ewing is isolated at a hospital. He is the only person in the program to have tested positive for the virus, Georgetown said.

Ewing played most of his NBA career with the New York Knicks but also had stints with the Seattle SuperSonics and the Orlando Magic. He scored almost 25,000 points and had more than 11,000 rebounds in his 17-year career.

He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

He has been the coach at Georgetown since 2017.