Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart organized a live shoot of their podcast “Roommates Show” at Central Park. In the special episode, they surprised New York fans by getting their newest teammate – Mikal Bridges – on stage to join the panel. During the session, fans were allowed to ask questions to the panel, and that’s when the 6ft 6” forward was asked to speak about his time playing for the Nets organization
Mikal Bridges witnessed no success during his time representing the Nets. Apart from winning no individual accolades, the Nets didn’t win a single playoff game – swept in the 2023 playoff and didn’t advance to the 2024 postseason. Despite the previous campaign being “tough”, Bridges described his stint with the franchise as “great”.
While he was going to answer their question, it almost seemed as though the crowd was hoping that the 28-year-old bashed their rivals, Bridges immediately began receiving boos after calling his stint “great”. But soon, the two-way star admitted that the 2023-2024 season was a failure.
“It was actually great… Last year was tough, last year was tough… But I mean, I just, I’ve grown as a person, I’ve grown as a player.”
To be fair, the stint with the Brooklyn side did help Bridges to evolve. From being a role player in the Phoenix Suns’ lineup, he went on to become the primary option on the offensive end. With a 117.9 DRTG (defensive rating), the former Villanova Wildcat was also the team’s anchor on the other side of the court.
Playing all games of the campaign, yet again, Bridges averaged an impressive stat line during the 2023-2024 season – 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. However, the blockbuster trade resulting in the Knicks acquiring Bridges has been one of the most notable moments of the summer.
For obvious reasons, fans of the Knicks are happy with this deal. Some of them, including Jalen Brunson, were even surprised that the front office managed to pull off the same because of the Knicks-Nets rivalry.
Brunson didn’t think that the Bridges trade would go through
Brunson revealed being stunned, “I never thought it would happen. I never thought it would happen, because, when’s the last time the Nets made a trade with the Knicks?”
With Bridges part of the team, the “Villanova Wildcats” Knicks will only witness an improvement in their team chemistry. In all probabilities, Brunson, Josh Hart, Bridges, and Donte DiVincenzo will not be in the starting lineup together. However, whenever they all share the hardwood, every fan can expect them to be in sync.
The Knicks are hopeful that their latest addition will enable them to improve their performance from the past campaign – Eastern Conference Semifinals. While they still aren’t the frontrunners to win the 2025 Larry O’Brien trophy, Tom Thibodeau’s boys will be expected to give tough competition to the Eastern Conference powerhouses such as the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
