CLEVELAND — Mitchell Robinson has proved to be a survivor: of the Scott Perry regime; of Knicks teams that were not even pretenders, losing at least 45 games in three of his first four seasons in the NBA. 

Robinson was a building block when it started to turn around under team president Leon Rose and a key piece as the Knicks became legitimate contenders. 

Monday night, the longest-tenured Knick became part of the franchise’s first Eastern Conference championship team in 27 years. He experienced losing, and he was impactful enough to be around once it all turned. 

In the clincher, a 130-93 blowout of the Cavaliers, Robinson enjoyed his best game of the series: eight points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. He’s a key piece to the improved bench from a year ago, a rim-protecting, rebounding machine. Robinson was a starter early in the season, but coach Mike Brown felt going with Josh Hart as a starter and bringing Robinson off the bench suited the team better. 

“Mitch can start for any team in the league — any team. And if he started, he might be first team all-defense and some other things, who knows?” Brown said.

“But this does not work if Mitch does not allow us to do that. If he doesn’t sacrifice himself and allows us to do that, because you’re talking about a starting center that you throw in the game maybe for 30 seconds sometimes, or two minutes, whatever it is, you pull them right back out. So it starts and ends with him, and him sacrificing himself for the team.”

This could be Robinson’s final year as a Knick. He is an unrestricted free agent. But before any of that, there is a title up for grabs. The Knicks are going to need Robinson in the next round, especially if there is a 1999 NBA Finals rematch against the Spurs. Victor Wembanyama could be waiting, and the Knicks could have an answer for the 7-foot-4 unicorn in the defensively gifted Robinson.