Mitchell Robinson

On December 17, 2019, Robinson scored a career-high 22 points and recorded 13 rebounds in a 143–120 win against the Hawks. On January 1, 2020, Robinson scored 22 points on perfect 11-of-11 shooting from the field in a 117–93 win against the Portland Trail Blazers. On February 26, 2020, Robinson recorded a double-double with 12 points and a season-high 16 rebounds in a 108–101 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

On September 18, Robinson announced he would forgo college and prepare for the 2018 NBA draft on his own accord. He would be the first recruited draft pick to wind up not playing for any college, professional, or high school/postgraduate team throughout an entire year before entering an NBA draft, although he would still be credited as coming out of Western Kentucky by the NBA. Furthermore, because of his brief time going to summer classes in Western Kentucky, he was ultimately barred from participating in the NBA G League later in the season due to G League rules. The ruling also affected a few similar prospects who were stuck in difficult situations at the time as well, like Billy Preston and De'Anthony Melton. The announcement also influenced at least one person to train by themselves for a year before entering an NBA draft, as another five-star recruit named Darius Bazley originally planned on not going to college at Syracuse University in order to try out for the NBA G League before deciding against that as well, claiming that it was the only league where winning does not matter after all.

On June 21, 2018, Robinson was selected with the 36th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. After appearing for the Knicks in the 2018 NBA Summer League, where he set summer league records for blocked shots and offensive rebounds, he signed a multi-year, rookie scale contract with the Knicks on July 8, 2018. After struggling with an ankle injury during the preseason, Robinson would make his professional debut on October 17, scoring two points in a 127–106 win against the Atlanta Hawks. Robinson made his first start on October 26, recording 7 points and 6 rebounds in 29 minutes of action in a 128–100 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On November 2, Robinson recorded his first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, alongside three assists and three steals, in a 118–106 win over the Dallas Mavericks. On November 11, Robinson set the Knicks' rookie record with nine blocks in a 115–89 loss to the Orlando Magic. On March 28, 2019, Robinson recorded season highs of 19 points and 21 rebounds in the Knicks' 117–92 loss to the Toronto Raptors, and became the first Knicks' rookie since Willis Reed in 1965 to record 19 points and 21 rebounds in a game. On April 9, he recorded eight points and 17 rebounds in a 96–86 win over the Chicago Bulls. Robinson finished the season second in the NBA in blocked shots per game, only behind Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers, and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

Playing in the 2017 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, Robinson tallied 14 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. He participated in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic, scoring 15 points in 17 minutes of play, while pulling down three rebounds.

Robinson originally committed to play college basketball at Texas A&M, but then de-committed to follow coach Rick Stansbury to Western Kentucky. Stansbury had recruited Robinson as the Aggies' assistant coach. Basketball writer Jason Frakes wrote in February 2017, Robinson "may go down as the biggest recruiting coup in WKU basketball history."

In July 2017, Robinson had enrolled at Western Kentucky University for the summer semester, and practiced with the team for about two weeks before a planned team trip to Costa Rica. Sources then indicated that he had left campus, and his room was cleaned out. He was then suspended indefinitely for violating the team rules. After speaking with head coach Rick Stansbury, he was granted a release to transfer, and barring an unexpected decision by the NCAA, would have had to sit out the 2017–18 season.

With the hope that a waiver would be granted by the NCAA, Robinson took visits to Louisiana State University, University of Kansas, and the University of New Orleans in August 2017. On August 27, Robinson returned to Western Kentucky a month after leaving campus.

Robinson was named to the preliminary roster of the United States national under-19 team in 2017, but did not make the final cut for the 12-men squad for the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.

Mitchell Robinson (born April 1, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the 36th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Before beginning his professional career, he gained national coverage for withdrawing from his commitment to attend Western Kentucky University and instead dedicate the entire 2017–18 season for training on his own, being the first player to make such a decision.