Mitchell Robinson

Mitchell Robinson attended Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Florida, for the first two years of his high school career, briefly transferring to Landry-Walker College and Career Preparatory High School in New Orleans as a sophomore, for whom he never played. He did appear for Pine Forest as a freshman and sophomore, but did not make much of an impact, as he was still relatively new to basketball, only starting playing in eighth grade, during a growth spurt that took him from 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) to 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m).^[3] He first appeared in the summer league before his junior year for Chalmette High School.^[4][5]

As a junior, Robinson led the Owls to their first state playoff win in 19 years, and in the second round, helped give the first seed and eventual state champion Natchitoches Central High School all they could handle before bowing out, their closest playoff game until the state final. He averaged 20.9 points, 13.6 rebounds, 8.1 blocks, and 2 steals per game. He made the all-district, all-Metro, and all-State teams for his efforts. Robinson then joined Dallas-based Nike Pro Skills on the AAU circuit for the summer, winning individual honors in the Nike EYBL and leading Pro Skills to the season-ending Peach Jam. His recruiting ranking shot up, and he earned his fifth star. Against the top players in the country, Robinson averaged 15.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks per game, being named to the All-EYBL second team.^[6]

As a senior at Chalmette, Robinson averaged 25.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, and six blocks per game, while earning Naismith Trophy All-America honorable mention and MaxPreps All-America honorable mention status as well as USA Today All-USA Louisiana first team honors and being named All-District, All-Metro, All-State, and the All-Metro Player of the Year from the New Orleans Advocate, as well as the St. Bernard Post Male Athlete of the Year for the parish.^[7] He led Chalmette to their first district championship in their own regular season tournament in 20 years, first district title in 21 years in the toughest basketball district in the state, and to the state semifinals for the first time in 32 years.^[8][9] In the Owls' four-game state playoff run, Robinson averaged 34.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 7.8 blocks. Robinson became the first Chalmette basketball player to be named a McDonald's All-American, and also played in the Jordan Brand Classic and the LHSBCA All-Star game.

Playing in the 2017 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, Robinson tallied 14 points, three rebounds, and two blocks.^[10] He participated in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic, scoring 15 points in 17 minutes of play, while pulling down three rebounds.^[11]

Robinson originally committed to play college basketball at Texas A&M, but de-committed to follow coach Rick Stansbury to Western Kentucky. Stansbury had recruited Robinson as the Aggies' assistant coach.^[12] Basketball writer Jason Frakes wrote in February 2017, Robinson "may go down as the biggest recruiting coup in WKU basketball history."^[13]

In July 2017, Robinson 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.^[14] He was then suspended indefinitely for violating the team rules.^[15] After speaking with head coach Rick Stansbury, he was granted a release to transfer,^[16] 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, the University of Kansas, and the University of New Orleans in August 2017.^[17] On August 27, Robinson returned to Western Kentucky a month after leaving campus.^[18]

On September 18, Robinson announced he would forgo college and prepare for the 2018 NBA draft on his own accord.^[19] He would be the first recruited draft pick to not play for any college, professional, or high school/postgraduate team throughout an entire year before entering an NBA draft, though he would still be credited as coming out of Western Kentucky by the NBA.^[20] Further, because of his brief time in summer classes at Western Kentucky, he was barred from participating in the NBA G League later in the season due to league rules.^[21] The ruling also affected a few similar prospects 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 himself for a year before entering an NBA draft, as fellow five-star recruit Darius Bazley originally planned on not going to college at Syracuse University to try out for the NBA G League before deciding against that as well.

Robinson was one of 69 players who planned to participate in the NBA Draft Combine. However, on the day of the combine, Robinson withdrew from all events.

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-man squad for the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.^[56]

At the tryout, Robinson measured 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) without shoes, 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) with shoes, 223 pounds (101 kg), with a 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) wingspan and 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) standing reach.^[57]

Robinson has been called by some analysts "the best shot blocker in his class", with uncommon closing speed and a long reach that led to numerous highlight-reel blocks. He uses that speed also to run the fast break exceptionally well for a big man of his size, being called the "most entertaining player" in the New Orleans area for his ability to convert alley-oop dunks. Robinson improved his free throw shooting in high school over the course of his two years at Chalmette, and developed range from behind the three-point line, making as many as five in a game. NBA draft projections have compared his game to DeAndre Jordan and Tyson Chandler.^[58]

Since entering the NBA in 2018, Robinson’s shot diet has consisted completely of dunks and layups; he has neither made nor attempted any three-point shots during his NBA career.^[59] His primary strength is his offensive rebounding ability, with offensive rebounding rates that rank the highest in NBA history.

Robinson has been noted for his exceptionally poor free throw shooting. His career free throw percentage is the lowest in NBA history.^[60] During the Knicks’ Championship-winning 2025-26 season, Robinson shot 40.8% from the line.^[61] His Playoff free throw percentage—29.3%—was the lowest in NBA Playoff history.^[62] Basketball commentators have attributed Robinson’s historically poor free throw ability to his habit of shooting with “zero arc” from the line.^[63] Robinson's poor free throw performance has led other teams to employ a "Hack-a-Mitch" tactic, intentionally fouling Robinson to send him to the free throw line and get possession of the ball.^[64]

Robinson lives in White Plains, New York and has a daughter named Riley, born in 2023. Robinson is a truck enthusiast and has multiple custom pickup trucks.^[65][66]