Player development a Knick executive order
For his job as the head of Knicks player development, Craig Robinson can’t apply what he learned most from his famous brother-in-law, Barack Obama.
“How to deal with my sister (Michelle Obama),” Robinson joked. “She’s not the easiest.”
The Knicks, of course, are also a handful, a franchise on a five-year playoff drought and engaged in a death march toward the end of this lost season. One of the few things left worthy of attention is player development, which Robinson oversees while splitting time with the Knicks and their G-League affiliate in Westchester.
In a 30-minute sitdown with a small group of reporters Wednesday, Robinson described his philosophies as “innovative” and “transformative” and “something that is completely new.” But they’re also a mystery. “I wouldn’t describe it in detail in the newspapers because then everybody would do what I want to do,” Robinson said.
Like a politician, Robinson stuck to his talking points. He wants to develop “on and off the court” and establish a “vertically integrating” system so the entire organization is involved. He’s also asking us to reserve judgement on player development — specifically regarding Frank Ntilikina — until after this summer because, “during the season you don’t have as much time to have practice.” His definition of development is bare bones. “It means getting players better,” he said. Robinson was more enlightening about the circumstances that brought him to New York, most notably his longstanding relationship with team president Steve Mills.
They were basketball teammates at Princeton in the early 80s, before Robinson spent 14 years as an investment banker. Robinson, 55, took a heavy paycut to return to basketball as an NCAA coach (at Brown and Oregon State), and then as an executive with the Milwaukee Bucks.
When Mills was elevated to Knicks president, he called Robinson to offer the job as vice president of player development and G League operations. The timing was bad — Robinson was simultaneously closing on a house in Milwaukee — but Mills was convincing.
“So this is how the call went: Steve said, ‘I think I have the perfect job for you.’ I’m like, ‘No way, my wife Kelly is at the closing and I really appreciate it, but now is not the right time.’ That was how it went,” Robinson recalled. “He was like, ‘Seriously, just hear me out.’ Then he explains the job and I’m like, ‘Ooh, that is the perfect job for me.’”
Robinson was hired in August to this newly-created role to work above Allan Houston, who remains the GM of the Westchester Knicks. As Clarence Gaines did for Phil Jackson, Robinson serves as Mills’ trusted advisor and often accompanies the Knicks on the road.
Successes or failures are hard to quantify less than a year into the job. Although the Knicks are once again settling into a 50-plus loss season, their G League affiliate leads its conference and already clinched a playoff spot. Six players — including Joakim Noah — have spent time both with the Knicks and the G League this season.
However, many of those same players — not including Noah — are part of the current Knicks squad that has lost 16 of its last 17 games. And as Robinson hammered Wednesday, the entire organization is intertwined.
“Rather than say it’s sort of a college style, it’s more innovative,” he said. “It’s just, I guess you can say it’s a college style but these guys are grownups, they don’t live together. It’s really different from being in college. We have these team building exercises but it’s more like working in a corporation that’s forward-thinking.
“But if you look at a company like Nike, there’s a lot of collaboration going on and a lot of internal development going on so you grow your own leaders. I think you could say it’s more something like a Nike or a Google than it is a college.”
Robinson said he’s withholding the specifics of his innovation because he doesn’t want to disclose “the secret sauce.” It’s hard to believe teams would want to mimic the Knicks over the Spurs or Warriors, but Robinson is a big believer in his system and is getting an opportunity to prove it with the rebuilding Knicks. Amid some very influential external pressure. “(Barack and Michelle Obama) are absolute Knicks fans but they are both Chicago Bulls fans,” Robinson said. “They wouldn’t stop rooting for the Bulls even when I was with the Bucks so... And I never had to worry about it when I was coaching college. But yeah, they are Knicks fans, they pay attention. So I get critiqued by the former President of the United States and the former First Lady.”
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