NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Nate Robinson says when he played for the Knicks his teammates would often say the team was hexed.
"Everybody keeps saying that the Knicks are cursed," the former point guard told WFAN's "The Afternoon Drive" in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday. "That's all I was hearing when I was there. 'Place is just cursed.' I was just like, 'You guys believing in it ... you guys are validating that.' So when I was there, I was trying to change the culture by just playing hard and ... just hoping (teammates would) follow through and do the same."
As for the reason the Knicks have struggled to produce consistent winning teams, Robinson, a Knick from 2005-10, theorized: "I think it's just deeper inside the organization that they have and (they should) just change a lot of things and then just build from the ground up. Go out and try to get some young guys that just want to play instead of trying to always find the next biggest name."
Robinson also talked about Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, who coached him with the Knicks. Under D'Antoni, the Rockets own the NBA's best record (51-13) and have won 17 straight.
Why didn't he have the same sort of results in New York?
"We had young guys," said Robinson, who last played in the NBA in 2015-16. "We had great guys in myself, Channing Frye, David Lee. We drafted great guys in New York, and once we got the coach we dreamed about in D'Antoni and playing in that style, it was fun. We loved it. We just couldn't get the wins at the time.
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"But just the Houston Rockets alone ... from Chris Paul all the way down to the last guy, they're just all great hoopers," Robinson added. "They just love to hoop, and D'Antoni's a coach that loves to run and gun, and that fits him, and that's a great style of basketball."
Robinson added that he's still baffled about why D'Antoni refused to play him in so many games during the 2009-10 season before ultimately trading him to the Celtics.
"Honestly, I just never understood why he would sit me down for as long as he did because he never gave me the explanation, and still hasn't until this day," Robinson said. "I don't understand how you can bump heads with somebody that you never had any beef with. So I had never had beef with my coach or anything like that.
"I just trust the process and what he believes in I wasn't ready to play at the time, and when I was, he called me and I was ready. And just to show, the year before, I averaged 18 (points), five (rebounds) and five (assists) in like 26 minutes for him. So I wouldn't understand why you would sit down a guy that has shown you that he can be everything you need him to be coming off the bench or even starting, but never got the opportunity."
Listen to the interview by clicking on the audio player above.