Jan 15, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) stands for the National Anthem before the start of the game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
NBA: New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons
(New York, NY) — For Mitchell Robinson, recently it’s been a “perfect storm.”
Following the Knicks’ 123-107 road win versus Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, Robinson posted on Snapchat, “Tired asf of just being out there for cardio fam like I want to play basketball to really just wasting my time and energy,” he wrote, ending the message with a face palm emoji.
He then wrote, “Disappearing for a while,” in a second post.
Robinson eventually responded to his post via a comment on an Instagram post by Knicks Fan TV.
“Yo it’s come real asf for the pass few weeks I been going through the perfect storm as I call it after the game against Portland I just snapped like I got a baby on the way I got family issues i just got to figure a way to get back under control when my mind was free I was good after I had 3 bad games I just started thinking about all the stuff I had going on and kept it going I’ll figure it out tho I’ll be fine my bad should’ve handled it differently and didn’t want no bad blood just gotta find myself.”
About six hours later, Robinson posted a another comment on the same post:
“See most of y’all wanna say I’m being childish or petty or whatever but let me put this in the air now I can be selfish shoot 80 shots and not play defense but that’s not me though I give up my body for this sh-t y’all say im injury prone all my injuries came from another play on the defensive side let me not play defense like I know I can and not play hard I’ll never hurt again but I love this sh-t to much to not risk getting hurt I do think about getting injured or whatever I just jump in the fire and whatever happens happen f-ck it and play ball if we being real about it so despite the fact that most of y’all t say need to play better I play the way they want me to been doing for 5 years now.”
Isaiah Hartenstein’s increase in playing time as the reserve center for New York–which began when Robinson was sidelined–certainly isn’t making him happy. Robinson played 21 minutes in Wednesday’s win over Portland, finishing with two points on 1-of-2 from the floor and four rebounds, a steal, and a block. He’s logging less minutes per game in March than the last two months, and his usage rate is 9.5%, the lowest of his career.
