Knicks just made the Mitchell Robinson situation even more confusing

Surprise, surprise. The New York Knicks listed Mitchell Robinson as out for Friday's matchup against Boston with left ankle injury management. He didn't play on Wednesday in the Knicks' season-opening win against the Cavaliers.

That's not what 'injury management' is. How do you go from playing in the first two-and-a-half preseason games to missing the first two regular-season games due to that? The answer is that you don't, not unless something happened.

Mike Brown has repeatedly said Robinson isn't injured, but if that were true, why hasn't he practiced? Or played? Fans can't blame Brown for withholding information about injuries, because New York did the same before he arrived. The way the organization handles injuries is infuriating to fans (and the media) who want to know what's going on.

Between Robinson and Josh Hart, who hasn't practiced or played since exiting the first preseason game (Hart is questionable for Friday), it's not hard to figure out that something deeper is going on behind the scenes. If it hasn't already, it could draw the league's attention.

Mitchell Robinson won't play against the Celtics on Friday

Did Mitch hurt his ankle in the third preseason game? Did he maybe hurt it in the second game in Abu Dhabi, but try to give it a go for the third? Did he do something outside of basketball? What in the world is going on?

One of the biggest concerns about this Knicks squad entering the season is Robinson's health, and so far, it's not looking good. It's one thing to be cautious about how often he plays, as load management isn't a bad thing for injury-prone players who you need in the playoffs, but another to point to that as a reason for missing the first two games of the season.

As SNY's Ian Begley said, you don't go from being healthy enough to play in the preseason to all of a sudden not playing, unless something happened. He said something is "amiss," and he's right about that.

Brown will have to answer to the media again on Friday about Mitch, and even he doesn't seem comfortable not being upfront about what's going on. Maybe fans will get some insight into what happened, or what is going on with Mitch, but as you should know by now, don't get your hopes up.

Mitch may or may not play before the new calendar year. In all seriousness, let's hope it's a lot sooner than that.