The New York Knicks received some terrible news around two weeks ago when reports came out that starting center Mitchell Robinson suffered a serious ankle injury that would require surgery, keeping him out for 8-10 weeks. This timeline opened up the possibility of an eventual return come late February or March; however, on Wednesday night, the Knicks have applied for a Disabled Player Exception, believing that Robinson will be out for the rest of the 2023-24 season.

The loss of Robinson is a crushing blow for a Knicks team that has made pounding the glass and beating opposing teams into submission on the interior its identity. As such, Knicks fans were in a somber mood after learning of the strong possibility that the 25-year old big man won't be returning to the court until, perhaps, the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

“Awful 😢—get better soon Mitch!” a Knicks fan wrote on Threads. “Noooooo! Brutal loss,” wrote another.

As one would recall, Mitchell Robinson played a huge part in the Knicks' first-round series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2023 NBA playoffs. Robinson dominated the Cavs on the backboards to the point where Jarrett Allen admitted that the lights may have been too bright for them.

What makes this latest injury update for Robinson that much worse, however, is that he doesn't exactly have the cleanest bill of health. He missed 23 games last season and 51 during the 2020-21 season, and now, he's in line to miss 61 for the Knicks.

“Another shortened season due to injury,” one Threads user wrote. Wrote another: “This is heartbreaking news, but when the Knicks resigned him they knew this was a risk, being that he has only played more than 70 games once in his career💯.”

Whatever the case may be, the Knicks have the personnel to weather the storm of Mitchell Robinson's absence in the meantime. Isaiah Hartenstein is as good a backup big as it's going to get, so at the very least, they have a replacement who is capable of taking on a bigger role.

The Knicks' $7.8 million Disabled Player Exception, however, if granted by the league, should help them add another capable body on the interior, should the team require it.