NEW YORK — The New York Knicks' 7-foot center Mitchell Robinson is known for blocking shots and grabbing rebounds, but his high school coach – and now roommate – revealed how big his heart is during an in-game interview on Thursday.
During the Knicks broadcast, Butch Stockton shared how Robinson visited his wife, Dawn, every day when she was in the hospital and later invited his old coach to move in with him after her death in September. Robinson proposed the idea to him at her funeral, according to Stockton, who coached the Knicks big man at Chalmette High School in Louisiana.
"He said 'Coach, no reason to stay down here in Louisiana. You come to New York with me and enjoy yourself and get your mind back straight because you know how much you loved your wife,'" Stockton said. "It's just been a great situation."
Dawn Stockton died at the age of 70 after a battle with metastatic cancer and was married to Butch for 31 years, according to an online obituary published by AL.com.
Robinson, who grabbed nine rebounds and scored six points during the Knicks' win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, told reporters after the game that his coach is a "great guy" that helped him "go to where I'm at."
"It works out for the best," Robinson said. "I help him out, he helped me." Robinson said his coach will be living with him for the rest of the year.
Stockton said in a 2018 interview that he learned about a "tall kid walking in the neighborhood" after Robinson and his family moved to St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana. He sought to recruit him to join his high school basketball team and after talking to his mother, the teenager enrolled in his school. He said he told Robinson that he would "have a chance to make it" to the next level of basketball.
"One thing I tell everyone, Mitchell Robinson was always the first one in the gym, every day, and the last one to leave the gym every day," Stockton told MSG Networks.
Robinson went on to play for the Knicks after being drafted in 2018 by the team and emerged as one of the NBA's best offensive rebounders.
