An improbable NBA breakthrough, a descent into darkness: ‘We weren’t all that different’
Oct. 28, 2024. Duncan Robinson entered a meaningless early-season game between the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons, tucking in his jersey with 4:26 remaining in the first quarter. He caromed a 3 off the front rim, his ninth miss on 11 attempts to open the 2024-25 NBA season. The crowd groaned. Longtime Heat play-by-play man Eric Reid pointed out the obvious: “A rough-shooting start for Duncan.”
Robinson played 16 minutes that night, looking, by all measures, like a guy in the early stages of the career dip that befalls all NBA players. Once a starter, he was now a reserve. Once a plucky underdog story, he was now over 30 and dog-eared.
This story was never supposed to get this far in the first place. No one ever imagined Duncan playing beyond the unsung world of small-time New England college basketball. To this day, his old New Hampshire prep school coach, Jay Tilton, denies the polished narrative that young Duncan was overlooked. “He wasn’t that good,” Tilton says. “He was skinny, didn’t have core strength. Sloppy feet, like he was running in snowshoes. The only reason he kept advancing is because, internally, he’s always had to live up to something.”
So, yes, Duncan Robinson played on Oct. 28, 2024.
Even if that day’s pregame shootaround was awkward. The prior afternoon, the Heat unveiled a statue of Dwyane Wade in a ceremony outside Kaseya Center in downtown Miami. Attendance was mandatory. Duncan was a no-show.
Robinson, in his seventh year with the Heat, heard all about it. Teammates busted him up. “Damn! You’re too big for D Wade?!” one cracked.
Duncan laughed it off. He never mentioned why he missed the ceremony. He never told anyone that night’s game felt like playing “in a silo.”
“It was the first time in my career I can remember being actively in a game, but my mind not exclusively being in the game,” Duncan says. “I remember someone being on the free-throw line and I was completely dazing out of the moment, thinking about my brother.”
Duncan missed Dwyane Wade’s statue ceremony because, when leaving his condo that afternoon, his mother called.
Elisabeth Robinson asked if Duncan was with Caroline, his then-girlfriend. She asked if he was sitting down. She paused, working out the words.
“Is Eli OK?” Duncan asked.
“He is alive,” Elisabeth said. “But he jumped.”
“Which bridge?”