"The Ewing Theory" is an idea created by an ESPN columnist-who-shall-not-be-named. CWSNBN noticed that the New York Knicks relied heavily on their star center Patrick Ewing for years with little success attached to this philosophy. Then, when Ewing went down with an injury, the team inexplicably played better with little to no star power to support them.
This theory is not isolated to the Knicks. Other teams have felt the ripple effect when the following criteria are met: