Last Thursday, New York Knicks fans were disappointed to learn that Mitchell Robinson had undergone surgery earlier that morning for a fractured right thumb. Robinson suffered the injury in the first quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Wizards.
Without Robinson, New York’s defense has taken a dip, although Isaiah Hartenstein showed promising signs in the Knicks’ win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. Robinson is set to be re-evaluated in two weeks, meaning that he likely won’t return before the trade deadline, but James Dolan revealed that he could be out even longer than that.
On Thursday morning, Dolan was a guest on Good Day New York to discuss a series of different topics, including MSG’s use of facial recognition. Along with that controversial topic, he also gave an update on Robinson.
James Dolan on Fox5 said Knicks will have to “make it through the next four weeks” without the injured Mitchell Robinson. Robinson is scheduled for a reevaluation on his surgically repaired thumb in two weeks.
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) January 26, 2023
James Dolan reveals that Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson will be out for 4 more weeks
Last week after Mitchell Robinson underwent surgery, the Knicks announced that he would be re-evaluated in three weeks. A week has gone by, but according to James Dolan, New York will have to make it past the next month without him.
The good news is that although a challenging schedule lies ahead for the Knicks, the team will have over a week off for the All-Star break. New York’s last game before the break will be on Feb. 15 and the team won’t play again until Feb. 24, which is less than a month from now. It’s looking as if Robinson will be able to return shortly after the All-Star break.
With the Knicks sitting in No. 7 in the East, the biggest concern is if the team will be able to remain in play-in contention without Robinson. His effort on the defensive end and his impact on the boards is something that New York has already sorely missed, so the sooner he can return, the better.
The Knicks could make a move at the trade deadline for a stopgap center with Robinson out and that’s something that will be known in the next two weeks.
The hope should be that as Dolan said, New York will have to navigate the next four weeks without Mitchell Robinson. Let’s hope that his absence doesn’t extend beyond that.
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