3. Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing is a New York Knicks legend. Playing there from 1985-2000, he spent most of his career with the same team. During that time, he made 11 All-Star games and received several All-NBA honors. The big man played a whopping 1,039 games in a Knicks uniform.
Imagining him wearing another jersey just feels wrong. And yet, Ewing decided that he wanted to move on from the Knicks in 2000, requesting a trade. A big four-team trade, in which the Knicks got six players and four draft picks, sent him to the Seattle SuperSonics. There, he stayed for one season before moving on to the Orlando Magic.
For his career, Ewing averaged 21 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1 steal, and 2.4 blocks per game. When he joined the Magic, that looked much different. Over 65 games, he averaged a career-low 6 points and 4 rebounds per game. It was also the first time in his career that he was not a starter. Still, playing 65 games in his 17th NBA season is pretty impressive.
At the same time, Ewing never looked quite right in a Magic jersey, however—not after playing in New York for so long.