The New York Knicks and Mitchell Robinson chose to move forward after the latter’s Snapchat rant for what he felt was his lack of role in the team’s offense.
Robinson already issued an apology on Instagram though he was not made available to reporters since the Snapchat snafu.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau admonished his 24-year-old starting center but also lauded him for acknowledging his mistake.
“Our players are human, and we’re all humans,” Thibodeau told reporters before the Knicks faced the Denver Nuggets Saturday. “So you’re not gonna have a great day every day. And sometimes, you know, you can get frustrated. So when you do get frustrated, you can’t allow anything to get in the way of putting the team first.”
“But if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, and correct it and then move forward. And so that’s what we ask all our players to do. You have to allow for the idiosyncrasies of each player and each person as long as it doesn’t get in the way of winning.”
Robinson continued to start and contributed four rebounds and three assists in 10 minutes of play during the first half. He didn’t make a single attempt.
Backup center Isaiah Hartenstein continued to enjoy more playing time, with 14 minutes in the first half. Hartenstein produced six points and six rebounds, with two steals and a block.
Robinson cited that a lot of stress stemming from his personal life exacerbated his frustrations following two bad games to end their West Coast trip. Over his last two games, Robinson averaged 3.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and was a minus-19. He only managed a total of six attempts in both games.
Former NBA player-turned-analyst Chandler Parsons ripped the Knicks center for being selfish.
“Yo, it’s come real as f—k for the past few weeks,” Robinson said in his apology. “I have 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 figure a way to get back under control where 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, though. I’ll be fine. My bad. I should have handled it differently and didn’t want any bad blood. I gotta find myself.”
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