Mitchell Robinson explains the panic that led to his broken hand before the NBA Finals

Mitchell Robinson, the former New York Knicks center who is now with the Boston Celtics, has offered the first detailed explanation for the broken hand that had gone unexplained entering the NBA Finals. In interviews reported Sunday, Robinson said he fractured his right hand during a moment of panic after receiving a late-night call about his youngest brother’s car accident, and that the emotional shock led him to bang his hand on a truck.

The hand injury had been a storyline in the postseason because the specifics were not publicly clarified, even as Robinson continued to play. According to reporting, Robinson fractured the fifth metacarpal in his right hand and later underwent surgery after the Knicks’ run, a detail that reframed what had been widely treated as a mystery into something rooted in personal crisis rather than a basketball incident.

Robinson described how he found out about the accident and what followed at home. He said family members contacted him, but he did not see the messages until he arrived late. He then began calling back, and when he FaceTimed his brother, he believed he might be dead after seeing him wearing a neck brace, unresponsive, and not speaking, before eventually breaking down in tears.

After that point, Robinson said he felt helpless being “910 miles away,” and in frustration he banged his hand on his truck. In the explanation, he also pushed back against the idea that people should rush to judge what happened without understanding the circumstances, underscoring that the injury was tied to events unfolding far outside the arena.

Robinson’s admission arrives after a major offseason shift. Reporting around his move to Boston says he signed a three-year contract worth $47.4 million with the Celtics after helping New York win its first NBA championship in 53 years. That championship run included the period leading into the Finals, when Robinson’s condition drew speculation even as he remained available on the court.

The Celtics, for their part, are now positioned to treat this as the latest example of Robinson’s resilience, not a lingering on-court concern. For New York, the episode is also a reminder of how quickly postseason narratives can become simplified, even when the player is carrying stress that never shows up in box scores.

What to watch next is less about the injury itself and more about how the public backstory changes the tone around Robinson’s role in Boston. A player who frames the moment as both personal and painful may have an added edge in how he approaches contact, intensity, and leadership, especially with new teammates and a new title-chasing context.