Mitchell Robinson stirs up heated Knicks-Nets center debate on Twitter

After a few years of getting bullied by the Nets, the New York Knicks are back at the top. The Knicks’ dominant 142-118 win over the Nets on Wednesday left no question as to which NBA team owns New York City. Times have changed.

The vibes were high after the Knicks’ seventh consecutive win that pushed the team closer to the No. 4 seed in the East. New York has yet to lose since returning from the All-Star break and a large reason for that is the return of Mitchell Robinson. The 24-year-old center fractured his thumb in a game on Jan. 18 and returned to the lineup in the Knicks’ first game back from the break on Feb. 24.

Since his return, Robinson is averaging 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in four games. He had a huge block on Jayson Tatum in New York’s 109-94 win over Boston on Monday. His presence is something that the Knicks sorely missed while he was sidelined.

Against Brooklyn, Mitch posted 13 points (6-of-6), 10 rebounds, and one block in 26 minutes. He’s been a double-double machine since coming back from his injury.

Mitchell Robinson calls himself ‘best center’ in NYC after Knicks destroy Nets

After the game, Mitchell Robinson decided to have some fun on Twitter, except the tweet quickly turned into a way for Nets fans to air out their frustrations.

On Thursday morning, Mitch took the tweet down and responded with two different tweets.

A couple of hours later, Mitch posted another tweet.

Brooklyn fans were arguing that Nic Claxton is superior to Robinson, and even said that when Jarrett Allen was with the Nets, he was the better center in NYC. What’s most entertaining about that is Brooklyn traded Allen to Cleveland in early 2021 as a part of the James Harden trade. Look at how that turned out for them, but Allen has blossomed with the Cavaliers.

Claxton is having a breakout season himself, averaging a career-high 12.5 points, 9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks while shooting 71% from the field. The 23-year-old has deservedly been in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. Both Robinson and Claxton have been instrumental to their team’s success, so it makes sense why Nets fans got so defensive over Robinson’s tweet. After losing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, fans are left trying to grasp any positives.

It’s hard to argue against how important Robinson is to the Knicks. It’s also hard to argue against the fact that in Wednesday’s head-to-head matchup against Claxton, Robinson outplayed him. He outplayed Robert Williams on Monday night, too. Knicks fans have been taking Robinson seriously, but it’s past time for other fanbases to be doing the same.

Keep doing what you’re doing, Mitch.

3 reasons the Knicks can win a first-round playoff series

The New York Knicks aren't only on track to return to the playoffs, but they can legitimately win a first-round playoff series when they get there.