Patrick Ewing says some scumbag actually broke into his home and STOLE his 1992 Olympic gold medal -- the one from the Dream Team -- but he never talked the burglary ... until now!!
“My house got broken into in New York at one point and they stole my medals," Ewing said Tuesday on "The Dan Patrick Show."
FYI, Ewing won TWO gold medals in his career -- representing Team USA in 1984 and 1992.
Patrick didn't reveal the date of the burglary -- but says the crooks made out with both gold medals AND the 1984 NCAA Championship ring he won during his run at Georgetown.
But, don't worry ... this story has a happy ending on two fronts.
First, Ewing said sometime after the break-in, he placed a call to Jerry Colangelo -- who runs USA Basketball -- and he was able to get replacement medals!
And, as for the college championship ring ... "somebody tried to sell it on eBay and I was able to get that back."
So, someone out there has an original gold medal from the greatest Olympic basketball team ever assembled.
Yeah, it's probably worth a fortune -- but it's STOLEN PROPERTY!
Ewing seemed to insinuate he was targeted by someone looking to get his high-profile items ... saying, "sometimes it sucks to be well known."