Forget debates about the color of a dress or whether a hot dog is a sandwich. The hot debate in the New York Knicks locker room recently was whether a basketball is orange or brown, and big man Mitchell Robinson made a gross but compelling argument for what it's the latter.
Speaking with The Athletic's Josh Hart about the Knicks' orange court for the NBA In-season Tournament, Robinson expressed his belief that a good basketball is always brown. After some teammates backed him up, Robinson gave a reason for the discoloration that would make a germophobe's skin crawl.
"It's got dirt and bacteria," Robinson said. "People here don't wash their hands. There's a few people in this league that wash their hands. A few of them. But I can. I do. I wash my hands."
Maybe Robinson's cleanliness gave him an edge in the Knicks' 115-91 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday. Robinson's immaculate hands grabbed 10 rebounds, which was the third-highest total among players on either team.
It's nice to know that Robinson himself practices good hygiene, but hopefully his accusations leveled against other players are untrue. After all, the ball does change hands frequently throughout an NBA game, and it is flu season right now.
