New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is living with his high school basketball coach in the Big Apple to help him cope with the death of his wife.

CBS News reports during the Knicks 118-112 win over the Detroit Pistons, Butch Stockton, Robinson’s high school basketball coach at Chalmette High School in Louisiana, shared how the Knicks big man visited his wife, Dawn, every day while she had metastatic cancer and after she passed in September, Robinson invited his old coach to live with him.

“He said, ‘Coach, there’s 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.”

Robinson, who had six points and nine rebounds in the Knicks overtime win over the Pistons, told reporters after the game that Stockton helped him “go to where I’m at.”

“It works out for the best,” Robinson said. “I helped him out; he helped me,” Robinson said, adding his former coach would be living with him for the rest of the year. 

In a 2018 MSG interview, Stockton said he heard about “a tall kid walking in the neighborhood” after Robinson moved to St. Bernard Parish. Stockton quickly tried to recruit Robinson to join his junior high school basketball team, telling Robinson’s mother, Lakesha 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. 

As a senior at Chalmette High, Robinson averaged 25.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and six blocked shots per game, earning a Naismith Trophy All-America honorable mention and a MaxPreps All-America honorable mention.

Robinson was invited to the 2017 McDonald’s All-American Boys Game, where he racked up 14 points, three rebounds, and two blocked shots. The seven-footer also participated in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic, scoring 15 points in 17 minutes of play.

The Knicks center originally committed to playing college basketball at Texas A&M but de-committed to follow coach Rick Stansbury to Western Kentucky. However, things didn’t work out for Robinson, as he was suspended indefinitely for violating the team rules. Robinson eventually elected to forgo his college career and prepare for the NBA Draft. The Knicks took Robinsons with the 36th overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft, and he has since developed into one of the league’s best rebounders and paint defenders.

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