How the Knicks will help Mikal Bridges rediscover his happy place after ‘toughest situation’ in Brooklyn

It was less than a year ago at training camp when Mikal Bridges declared himself fit and primed for the leadership role with the Nets.

“Who wouldn’t want this? Who wouldn’t want this type of pressure, this type of expectations?” Bridges said. “If you really love the game and really want to be the best you can be, you’d want this … where you’re the main guy and everything’s on your shoulders. What are you going to do? How I’m raised and where I came from with the things I’ve been through, I feel like I’m ready for the moment and always have been.”

Bridges was wrong. His time at the top of the organizational totem pole, saddled with the requisite pressures and responsibilities, was brief and disappointing. Not only did his numbers suffer, but his Nets finished a dispiriting 32-50. In retrospect, Bridges acknowledged his leadership shortcomings.

“It could’ve been better,” Bridges said on “Podcast P’ with Paul George” during Summer League this month. “But it’s different. I was close with everybody, we were all pretty close. We just couldn’t figure it out. I think that was the toughest situation. You want to lead and help other guys, but sometimes you got to look yourself in the mirror like, ‘What can I do better to help?’ That’s where I feel I lacked a little bit. … Personally, it was tough.”