Knicks Big Man Has Surgery; Will Miss Weeks

A tough break for the New York Knicks today, as just hours after injuring his thumb in Wednesday night's game, center Mitchell Robinson underwent surgery and will be out a minimum of three weeks. 

Mitchell Robinson underwent successful surgery today to repair his fractured right thumb at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 19, 2023

Robinson suffered a fractured right thumb less than four minutes into the game. It was first thought to be a sprain. 

Mitchell Robinson appears to sustain his initial thumb injury about 3 1/2 minutes into the game. He played about 5 1/2 more minutes; the injury may have been aggravated on one or more plays. He was eventually subbed out & diagnosed with a thumb sprain. Extent of injury TBD pic.twitter.com/iAW72bXBob

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) January 19, 2023

He tried to play through it the rest of the first quarter, but didn't return the rest of the game.  

The Knicks says the surgery was successful, and Robinson will be re-evaluated in three weeks.  

A big loss for the team, particularly on the defensive end, as Robinson was averaging 1.8 blocked shots per game, while pulling down 8.9 rebounds. 

In a very curious twist, the Dallas Mavericks also lost a key big man to a fractured thumb Wednesday night, but is expected to be evaluated in only one week. 

Photo: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports