Dunkin’ like dad

Ewing Jr. favored in D-League slamfest

Patrick Ewing, who wowed Garden crowds with his thunderous dunks, will be watching from the wings as his son Patrick Jr. (right) takes center stage in the NBA D-League Dream Factory Slam Dunk Contest at Jam Session on Friday in Phoenix, site of next Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. The 6-foot-8 Patrick Jr., who turned heads with his behind-the-back slam at last year’s NCAA Dunk Contest and currently is playing for the Reno Bighorns, is a favorite to win the contest.

Neverthless, he was not selected to play in the actual D-League All-Star Game next weekend.

Highlights of the dunk contest will be posted on NBA.com. Knicks forward Wilson Chandler will compete in the T-Mobile Rookie & Youth Jam Friday night.

One 9 to another

Because Adam Graves, whose jersey was retired last Tuesday night by the Rangers, will share No. 9 in the rafters after Andy Bathgate (and Harry Howell) are similarly honored on Feb. 22, Graves was asked to deliver the news last summer to Bathgate of what the team planned. He drove to the driving range Bathgate and his son were opening outside Toronto.

“We went for a long lunch to share the stories,” Graves said. “Being able to share the news with he and his son was fantastic. There is a great weight in having your name go besides his. He is one of the great No. 9s who ever played. (Bathgate and Howell) made this jersey the privilege it is to wear. They have an aura about them that speaks of respect for the game. This is so appropriate. I can’t wait (for the 22nd).” . . . The over-under on when Mark Messier would break down during his remarks on Adam Graves Night was about 10 seconds, and he beat it easily. When, inevitably, he choked up, it got a laugh from Rangers fans who knew from other sacred occasions what to expect. They were unlike the stewardess on Messier’s flight to New York, who, seeing tears rolling down his cheeks as he worked on his speech from his aisle seat, asked if anything was wrong. “It’s embarrassing,” laughed Messier, not too embarrassed to tell the story to The Post’s Jay Greenberg.

Here’s to the winners

While Art Shamsky’s sidewalk stalking by his estranged wife Kim made front-page news, there also were some highlights inside Gallagher’s Steak House last Wednesday at the American Heart Association luncheon and salute to the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Mets and Jets:

“Joe Namath and Weeb Ewbank might have thought we were going to win, but the organization didn’t,” Jets RB Emerson Boozer said. “There was no champagne in our locker room after we won, we had to borrow it from the Colts.”

Said center John Schmitt: “I was living every American woman’s dream: Joe Namath’s hands on my rear end for an hour every Sunday.”

Later that evening, at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway’s tribute, Ron Swoboda, Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson and Shamsky reminisced with and signed autographs for a throng of 300 fans who chanted “Let’s Go Mets.”

The fans gave the quartet a standing ovation as they entered the Entertainment Lounge in the Gotham Palace. Perhaps the oldest living Mets fan, a spry, 96-year-old woman, told the foursome: “I love you guys, you’re the best! And I drove here myself!” . . . Five-hundred strong packed the Grand Hyatt Ballroom last week for the 29th annual Thurman Munson Awards for the AHRC-NYC Foundation. Diana Munson reminded the crowd that, “I turn 60 this year. Even though I feel forever young, it means that Thurman has been gone for half of my life.”

Jewish Sports Hall to honor Accorsi

You don’t have to be Jewish to be honored by the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum. Former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi will receive the George Young Award at the Hall’s 17th-annual induction ceremony April 26 at the Suffolk Y JCC in Commack, L.I.

Among those to be inducted include ESPN’s Linda Cohn, Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, and the late Dick Schaap.

“It’s a privilege to be honored by such a great organization and even more special that the award is named for George Young,” Accorsi told The Post’s Paul Schwartz.

For more information, call Hall of Fame/museum director Alan Freedman at (631) 462-9800, ext. 119. . . . Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley and RB Willie Parker, still basking in the glory of their Super Bowl win, partied at M2 until the lights went on at 4 a.m. on Thursday. The two caught up with Will Ferrell, who was at the club celebrating the opening of his Broadway show.

Right name, wrong guy

Stevie Cohen, a pro rep for Rawlings since 1996, has worked the major league clubhouses since 1989 and has earned the trust of ballplayers such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and David Wright, plus general managers and even owners. So imagine his surprise when it was brought to his attention that the first name listed on the acknowledgement page of steroid supplier Kirk Radomski’s book “Bases Loaded” was none other than Steve Cohen.

Rawlings rep Stevie Cohen wants to set the record straight.

“That’s not me,” he said. “That’s a different guy he’s talking about. I never befriended him and I never had any kind of relationship with him. I haven’t spoken to Kirk since he left the clubhouse many years ago.” Turns out the Steve Cohen named is a childhood friend of Radomski’s.

Outside the box

Wheaties, “The Breakfast of Champions,” is honoring the Knicks’ biggest champion, Willis Reed (below) with a new limited-edition package. The 15.6-ounce box, now available nationwide, celebrates the Captain bringing home the NBA championship for his Knicks, when he limped courageously onto the court for Game 7 at the Garden against the Wilt Chamberlain Lakers on May 8, 1970.

“(Reed) is a true champion, on and off the court, and we’re excited to honor his accomplishments,” said Matt Beliveau of Wheaties Marketing.

This marks the first Wheaties appearance for Reed. Other Wheaties Black History Month honorees have included Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe and Julius Erving. . . . Throughout this Black History Month, New Era will donate $1 to the Jackie Robinson Foundation for every baseball cap it sells at neweracap.com or at its flagship store locations. These proceeds are in addition to a guaranteed $250,000 contribution New Era made to the foundation to launch the partnership.