The New York Knicks have been so good that they decided adding a little plot twist to their Finals run was good to make the story a bit spicier.
Alas, Mitch’s pinky went sideways.
Good news? It was just a scare in the middle of a long tale and won’t seemingly impact the big man.
On Mitchell Robinson’s injury not occurring in Game 4 or practice:
“Mitchell Robinson did not sustain his broken pinky in a game or in practice.”
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On Mitchell Robinson’s surgery and limiting focus to availability:
“I don’t obviously know much about the details. Obviously, I know that he had surgery and all that. For me, it’s the same thing. I haven’t — I don’t want to know. Just let me know if he can play, and when he can play.”
On the difficulty of generalizing how players handle a broken finger:
“It varies. It’s just different strokes for different folks, you know what I’m saying? Like, it may be one way for me but a different way for him — so it’s different. That’s hard to kind of generalize [playing with a broken finger] for the entire population.”
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On preparing without knowing Robinson’s Game 1 status:
“For me, I’m always going with whoever is available today. And he didn’t practice today. So we’re getting whoever we need ready to go. … I don’t want to know, just let me know if he can play and when he can play. Just like we normally would, we’re getting everyone else ready to go.”
On potentially facing San Antonio or Oklahoma City in the Finals:
“If we expect to be who we think we are, then at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. If we play San Antonio, it’ll save me some money because my family lives in San Antonio. I don’t have to buy airline tickets. But at the end of the day, both teams are great and both teams will be a challenge for us.”
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On the Knicks’ offensive evolution throughout the season and playoffs:
“You know, I always look at it as just evolving. You know, I came in with an idea during training camp, and for the most part, I thought it was pretty good. It didn’t fit everybody exactly how I thought it would, and so you try to tweak some things as you move along, and we made a pretty big tweak about halfway through the year. And then in the playoffs … Atlanta, they’re really good, Quin Snyder and his group. And all these teams have been really good, and they’ve made us play a little different. We played a little different where we emphasized certain things against Cleveland that we didn’t emphasize as much against Philly, that we didn’t emphasize as much against Atlanta, and so continuing to try to find ways to help the group score in the half-court was something that we all opened our minds to. After I think Game 3, it’s like, bam, here it is.”
On navigating Finals distractions and staying intentional:
“There are a lot more distractions that you have to navigate. So you have to be, I was talking to Allan Houston and he used the right word when I was talking to him about it, but you have to be real intentional about what you’re doing because you’re gonna get pulled in so many different directions. And everybody is human and it’s natural to get pulled here, get pulled a little here, get pulled a little there and think that you’re OK. But at the end of the day, after doing the media and practice, you’re getting pulled in three or four different directions because you’re gonna have your family around you, you’re gonna have friends around you, you’re gonna have people wanting tickets, you’re gonna have people wanting you to go on this show, that show. At the end of the day, you may not realize it, but it can be fatiguing for you to do all of that stuff while trying to focus on some of the biggest games of your life. Again, going off of what word Allan Houston used, trying to be intentional about everything that we do during this time, while keeping an edge, is gonna be huge.”
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On staying even-keeled amid adversity:
“I feel like I’m pretty good at that. We all have had curveballs come at you that are bigger than (Robinson’s injury) in life, and trying to even do it when you have those curveballs helps you prepare for something that is really a kid’s game. So that’s what I try to do, no matter what it is.”
On welcoming input from players and coaches when adjusting his strategy:
“I get welcoming suggestions from our players. I get welcoming suggestions from our coaches, and I always just try to say, ‘Hey, this is probably the best for the team,’ and go with it. Fortunately, it helped us out during that series, and it’s helped us out since.”
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On conceptual offense and playoff adjustments:
“Everybody grows in their journey. And being an assistant in Golden State helped out a lot. Almost everything they do is conceptual. When you get to the playoffs, everybody first of all knows exactly what play is coming. So if I were sitting here going ‘Two up! Two up! Two up!’ every single one of our opponent’s assistants would be like, ‘Pick-and-roll coming.’ And they know ahead of time exactly what’s coming and the game is physical, so they’re gonna really bump you to mess with your frontcourt pace, and it’s gonna disjoint you offensively. If you can understand, OK, hey, let’s get the flow. Let’s play in flow, and it’s read-and-react based off where the ball goes and where the body goes, now it’s a lot harder for their staff to help them ahead of time … And if your guys understand concepts and can play conceptual basketball offensively, come playoff time versus very good defensive teams that only get better as you advance, it gets more physical, which can disjoint you offensively, you’ll have a better chance at having some success, because like I said, they don’t know exactly what’s coming in a timely manner.”
On Karl-Anthony Towns showing more than just scoring:
“It’s awesome because KAT, everybody looks at KAT as a scorer. ‘Oh, he can score. He doesn’t do this. He doesn’t do that, but he can score.’ And to make it — especially as an All-Star/leader/one of the guys — this far, you have to bring more to the table. And it’s great because he can be able to display to the entire world that he’s more than just a talented scorer.”
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On meeting Ben Stiller and celebrity Knicks fans:
“Ben Stiller was over there. I don’t think I’ve ever met Ben, but he was over there, and she was like, ‘Ben’s over there.’ I was like, ‘Go get a picture. I’m sure he’ll take a picture with you.’ [She was like], ‘No, I can’t do it.’ ”
On getting to know Fat Joe during the season:
“I’ve actually gotten to know Fat Joe a little bit. He used to kill me about my shoes. He used to kill me. He’d try to tell me I need to get some Nikes because they got more cushion and all this stuff. He took a picture with my stepson and my stepson was fired up, and I’ve always been a fan of his. But he’s probably the only one that I’ve really gotten to know.”
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On Leon Rose and James Dolan building the roster:
“Leon … and his staff have done a frickin’ fantastic, fantastic job. And I’d even take it a step further. It doesn’t happen if Mr. (James) Dolan wants to keep his hands in his pocket and not allow Leon to go do his work.”
On reaching the NBA Finals for the first time:
“It means a lot. To finally, like I said after [Monday’s] game, get over that hump. Being in the conference finals is a huge accomplishment, but really, we all know what we’re all looking for is the opportunity to play in the NBA Finals. As a competitor, as an athlete, you [try] to give yourself a chance every single year. The last three years I have, but finally this year I was able to, in the third year, get over that hump and give myself a chance to see what I can do.”
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On the magnitude of representing the Knicks and Madison Square Garden:
“My mom, when she immigrated here, understood the magnitude of Madison Square Garden. Madison Square Garden and the Knicks is not just an American top-end sports team, it’s a worldwide brand. And to be part of Knicks history is truly such an honor. My family has always had such respect and love for the Knicks, and my father having ties to the Knicks, it was just kind of guaranteed I was going to fall into this role of being a Knicks fan growing up.”
On Jeremy Lin inspiring his Knicks fandom:
“I truly, though, I want to give a shout-out to Jeremy Lin, because he really made me a Knicks fan and had me at Modell’s going crazy trying to find his jersey. I have so much love for Jeremy Lin, he’s one of my favorite Knicks of all time, one of my favorite players of all time. He made me so passionate about the Knicks. It’s crazy now that I’m in this position, I’m in this chair, talking to you guys as a Knicks player. Derek [Lapinski, the Knicks’ PR director] showed me the other day [a video] of Jeremy Lin on social. For him to even mention me was kind of crazy because the love I have for him and what he’s done for me and my Knicks fandom is second to none.”
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On trusting the roster amid uncertainty around Robinson:
“Whatever the picture ends up being, us having those trials and tribulations for the last two years where things weren’t looking good — just like at the end of December with the 2-9, 11-game stretch — it shows that we have resilience, and we’ll go out there and we trust everyone in this locker room. It’s an unfortunate thing that happened to him. If this playoff run has shown anything, I feel, to the fans and media, 1 through 15 will go out there and put the Knicks jersey on and get the job done, and we truly believe in that. So, this is a situation that we’ve garnered enough experience and trust in each other that whatever the picture ends up being when we step on that court on Wednesday, we feel confident.”
On preparing during the extended break before the Finals:
“We have to prepare, and we’re preparing every single day for whatever the situation may be, and we’re just ready. We have a lot of days — we’ve been fortunate. It’s a fortunate thing that it happens when we have a lot of time or we can figure out a lot of the puzzle. But we don’t know what the picture is yet until we get to Wednesday next week.”
On Juan Soto using his celebration:
“It’s pretty dope to see, for sure.”
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On adjusting offensively during the playoffs:
“I feel like we’ve always had different ways to approach things. What’s the frequency of what we’re running at the time? Being able to have that in our back pocket and obviously being able to adjust during the playoffs is not that easy, but it’s definitely something that we’ve practiced and we gotta continue to make good habits out of those.”
On what leading the Knicks back to the Finals means for his family:
“That’s a question, I’d love to answer later.”
On blocking out distractions during the Finals:
“I think it’s different for everybody. I’ve been off social media. I may post one thing and then just go back to deleting it. You just gotta block out the noise. You gotta do whatever you can to make sure you’re locked in. Everyone is different. Every individual has their way of blocking out things. It’s important to not hear some of the things. When there’s negative things being said about you, it’s important to ignore them. When there’s positive things about you, it’s easy to read them and feel good. You can’t do one and not the other. So just block it out as best as you can.”
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On staying locked in, entering the Finals starting on the road and after another long break:
“Comparing our situation from last time, just being mentally and physically locked in. I think that’s really important for us and that’s what we have to focus on these next couple of days.”
On handling outside praise before the Finals:
“Just worry about what we have to do to be better. Not get too into the media and all the stuff. A lot of questions, a lot of talk about how great we are, how great we’ve been. That doesn’t matter, we just gotta worry about being ourselves and stay locked in. And go win.”
On the Knicks’ long path to the Finals:
“Jules went to the Knicks. Then Thibs was hired. Drafted Mitch, RJ, Quick. Guys coming every year, getting better and better. Jalen came, Josh, Donte, Isaiah. Each year, progression. Noticed it from afar, and since I came it’s been same thing. Getting better and better each year.”
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On Mitchell Robinson’s importance and taking it day by day:
“Mitch is very important. He’s an amazing player. It’s unfortunate what happened, but I’m sure — just take it day by day now.”
On the team’s health entering the Finals:
“We’re very fortunate. No one wants to have any setbacks. Any team in the playoffs is gonna have setbacks, so we’ve been pretty fortunate. [We] had this come up, [so] just take it day by day, figure it out.”
On staying focused despite reaching the Finals:
“Job’s not done. It means everything to be going to the Finals, and we’ve got a lot more to do. Really proud of this group and happy to be a part of this group, and we all know what it’s going to require from us moving forward. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
On supporting the Knicks during their Finals run:
“We just gotta keep cheering for the Knicks. Let’s go Knicks.”
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On winning a championship in New York:
“There’s nothing like winning a championship in New York. I want it to happen for them. It’s just everybody loves you for what you did. No one can ever take that away from you. It just changes your life.”
On the demands and rewards of winning a title in New York:
“There’s nothing greater than winning a title in New York because you have to deal with so much animosity through the media and fans. They demand a lot. When you finally do reach that pinnacle, it brings so much joy to everyone. And it’s forever. You’re an icon. You are a hero here … It’s very hard. But the fans love you forever. I’ll put it this way, they love you forever and they embrace you because you stood up to the challenge. It’s not just about playing here. It’s about everything that goes on. If you never played here, you would never have a clear understanding of it.”
On offering to take a photo with Mike Brown’s family:
“I am available for any picture any time with any member of Mike Brown’s immediate or extended family or friends. This man has taken us to the finals. In his first year here.”
On Knicks fans enduring years of struggles:
“I’m so happy for the fan base because there were so many nights where they were dreadful, one of the worst teams in the league. The fans never went away.”
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On Walt Frazier being rejuvenated by this Knicks team:
“I was worried he was going to retire because he was so sick of the bad play. Now, I think he wants to keep going year after year.”
