Knicks Legend Offers Mikal Bridges Advice

If Carmelo Anthony learned one thing about playing for the New York Knicks, it’s that the learning curve is pretty much a straight line.

Anthony offered advice about the metropolitan experience to Bridges, one of the newest Knicks, as they each joined Paul George on his “Podcast P” web series.

Asked about the advice he’d offer Bridges, who is set to follow in his footsteps as a high-profile Manhattan import, Anthony said that the Villanova alum is well-prepared for the city itself thanks to his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets … but that the former Barclays Center dweller better be ready for the big expectations the Knicks have placed upon him.

“I think he already experienced the essence of New York in a sense,” Anthony explained. “He probably experienced it differently being with the Brooklyn Nets because that’s a different culture over there. Even though it’s a New York culture, it’s a Brooklyn culture, whereas with the Knicks, it’s a more New York culture. You’re getting all the energy (of) Madison Square Garden, the history, the tradition, the love, the pure passionate fan over there.”

Anthony certainly had his moments where energized MSG dwellers playing six-plus season as a Knick. While he earned plenty of individual honors after coming over from the Denver Nuggets, including a scoring title after the 2012-13 campaign, Anthony was denied an elusive championship, leaving but one sizable void on what likely stands as a Hall-of-Fame resume.

The Syracuse alum advised Bridges to be prepared for heightened expectations, especially with so much familiarity in a new setting: New York, fresh off one of the most arduously-gained 50-win seasons in recent memory, fully leaned into the “Nova Knicks” trope by reuniting Bridges with fellow former Wildcats Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart.

“The situation he’s going into right now is do-or-die, it’s pressurized,” Anthony continued. “This is it. This is our window to go try figure some (stuff) out. He’s still young but you can’t put a team like that together. We’re going out there to win. We all saw the four-year plan of (president) Leon Rose from the beginning, how he cleared house, step-by-step, and stuck to his script.”

“(Bridges) was part of the plan so, now that the Knicks got him, he’s coming in and it’s winning time.”

Ironically enough, one of Bridges’ first podcast appearances came against a fellow Atlantic Division arrival in the hosting George, who is set to rep the Philadelphia 76ers alongside retained headliners Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The 76ers’ additions have set the stage for an epic three-way battle atop the Eastern Conference with the defending champion Boston Celtics, especially after the Knicks ousted Philadelphia in last postseason’s opening round.

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