The New York Knicks have been prioritizing Mitchell Robinson's health. Head coach Mike Brown has often told reporters that he takes direction on Robinson's availability from the team's medical staff, which works in tandem with Robinson and his representation to determine the best course of action for the big man. Sitting half of every back-to-back has become regular procedure but Robinson was recently ruled out of two consecutive games, neither of which were back-to-backs. Now, Knick fans know when to expect him to return.
Robinson set to return very early in 2026
After their New Year's Eve bout with the San Antonio Spurs, which Mitchell Robinson sat out for ankle injury management, the center's short path to returning begins. It was reported ahead of the matchup against the Spurs on Wednesday that Robinson would return either on Friday vs the Atlanta Hawks or Saturday vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
Robinson's return coming potentially as early as possible in 2026 is welcome news for Knick fans, who know the importance of getting the team's longest-tenured player to the postseason healthy. The center can swing a series, as he did in the 2022-23 season against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2023-24 season against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It's reasonable that fans would become concerned with Robinson's health given the deviation from the routine they were just getting used to. Sitting half of every back-to-back is a sacrifice the fanbase seems to be completely fine making, given the level of importance Robinson's impact on the offensive glass has had in postseason play.
We're in an era of fans arguably having an excessive amount of information about their favorite players, and New York's faithful were anxiously awaiting any sort of update with regard to whether or not the lockdown center had sustained a new injury of some kind. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season and the NBA's second apron inspiring all sorts of heartbreaking decisions by teams, fans are unsure just how much time they have left enjoying Robinson's play.
When he has played this season, he's averaged 4.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and even 1.1 assists per game to go along with the 0.9 steals and 1.1 blocks fans know and love him for. He's left his coach speechless (or rather, quite the opposite) at the podium postgame when he sees the center's contribution to the box score. He just needs to get to the playoffs healthy to show the entire world what he can do.