Mitchell Robinson is attracting negative energy to the otherwise immaculate vibes for the resurgent New York Knicks.
FanDuel TV’s Run It Back analyst Chandler Parsons ripped the Knicks center for his Snapchat rant, which alluded to his lack of role in the Knicks’ offense.
A seemingly frustrated Robinson posted on his 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 (emoji),” followed by “Disappearing for a while.”
Parsons, a former second-round pick like Robinson, said there is no upside in doing these social media stunts, especially after the 41-30 Knicks reclaimed solo fifth seed in the East and assured themselves of a .500 season for only the second time over the last 10 years.
“This is a sign of immaturity. This is selfish. This is him being a bad teammate,” Parsons said during their show’s Wednesday edition. “His team is finally on top. They’re having a great year. They haven’t done anything with him. They’re now finally getting a taste of success and you just provide this public distraction really and let’s be honest, big guys like this when they go on this rant, what do you want? You want the ball [on isolation plays]?”
Robinson’s frustrations stemmed from his lack of touches, as he was limited to only six attempts in their last two games. In those two games, his backup, Isaiah Hartenstein, has outplayed him even without scoring a basket.
“[Robinson] has [a] zero game. He can’t go and score,” Parsons continued. “He’s not like he’s gonna go get buckets, so I don’t really know where he’s getting at. He’s a great, big man that can roll, that can run, that can block shots, that can help defensively… But he will get exposed if they give him the ball… He’s not that guy.”
Parsons, however, believes that the 24-year-old Knicks center will realize that as he grows older.
“You’re picking the wrong battle here because I think if they did do that, it would honestly just end poorly for him,” Parsons said,” and his role is to run, to go basket to basket, catch lobs, get offensive rebounds to impact the game that way and he’ll make $100 million to $150 million doing that. You start giving him the ball on the post and it’s gonna be a long season and a short career for him.”
Robinson recently inked a four-year deal worth $60 million, a huge jump from his $4.7 million rookie contract.
Despite his two straight duds, Robinson is still averaging 7.5 points, a career-high 9.1 rebounds, and the league’s second-best 4.3 offensive rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
The Knicks need a focused Robinson to anchor their defense for the stretch run.
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