The biggest and perhaps best player at the Summer Pro League was not issued a uniform, will not play and for that matter, is no longer a player.

But to the fans cheering his name, such details don't matter. As the Rockets take the court at Long Beach State's Pyramid, the reaction to the sight of Malick Badiane is somehow restrained. The cheers are for Patrick Ewing.

Fans shout for him just to turn in their direction. Programs and scraps of paper are pushed in his direction for autographs. Before and after games, a few fans get close enough to ask him to pose for pictures.

Then Ewing returns to his new life as the Yao Ming of coaches.

In his second year as a NBA assistant, and first weeks with the Rockets, Ewing is, like Yao, considered loaded with potential, but very much a work in progress still learning his craft.