When Mitchell Robinson was a rookie second-round draft pick with the Knicks in 2018-19, the experience was not particularly pleasant. The 20-year-old center played about 20 minutes per game for New York, which stumbled through a league-worst 17-65 campaign.
So last season, which ended with the Knicks’ first championship since 1973, was gratifying for Robinson, the team’s longest tenured player. He had seen the worst and waited eight years to experience the best.
When the Knicks visit the Celtics on Friday night, Robinson will play against New York for the first time in his career. He’ll look to the opposite bench and see many of the same teammates with whom he sprayed champagne just four months ago. But Robinson, who signed a three-year, $47.4 million deal with Boston in July, was in no mood to be sentimental Thursday.
“It don’t really matter that I’m playing my former team,” he said with a shrug. “It’s more so just trying to bounce back from what happened two nights ago [in the loss to the Pistons]. At the end of the day, basketball is a business and we’ve just got to play the team, just how you play the other teams.”
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The Knicks’ ring and banner ceremony at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night started about an hour after Boston’s season-opening loss to the Pistons that afternoon. Robinson will receive his ring eventually, but he said he had no interest in reliving the warm moment by staring at a television in Detroit.
“I was still stuck in my head from last game,” Robinson said, referencing what he considered a forgettable debut.
Robinson started at center for Boston, but his impact was minimal. He played 18 minutes and registered 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers, and the Celtics were outscored by 8 points with him on the floor.
Robinson said he had a bad start and was playing too fast. He believes that if he had been a more effective deterrent at the rim in the second half, the Celtics might have been able to hold onto the 22-point lead they eventually relinquished.
“We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas,” Robinson said. “It starts with me. I’m obviously one of the best defensive bigs in the league and I didn’t show it that night. I’ve got to take ownership of that and I’ve got to do better.”
After the game, Mazzulla told reporters it will be important for Robinson to continue to build a rhythm on offense. He thought his defensive coverage was strong. Later, Mazzulla sent Robinson several encouraging text messages.
Of course, bad feelings from a season-opener can be exacerbated because the game stands alone. Robinson, who saw much worse during that dreadful rookie season eight years ago, knows it is important to approach these early setbacks with perspective.
“We’ve got a lot of room to grow and learn each other, but obviously, it’s better to do it sooner than later,” Robinson said. “So that’s what we’re just going to do. We’re going to get in there and talk and pick each other’s brains and just learn as much as we can.”
In the NBA, chances at redemption are always just a day or two away. Robinson is eager for his opportunity in front of the TD Garden crowd Friday night, and he insists that the familiar faces on the other side will be irrelevant to him.
“I’m just here to play basketball,” Robinson said. “Same thing I do with any other team, same thing I did with [the Knicks]. It’s just all about basketball.”
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Celtics legend Paul Pierce stopped by Thursday’s practice at the Auerbach Center.
“Obviously, he did a lot for this city and the organization, so having him here is more than anything, even if you don’t talk to him, just having his presence here is felt,” forward Sam Hauser said. “And it makes you want to carry on the Celtics tradition, the legacy, when you’ve got those guys around even more.”