Knicks’ Mikal Bridges Regrets Not Handling Losing With Nets

Regrets, new New York Knick Mikal Bridges has had a few, just like fellow Madison Square Garden mainstay Frank Sinatra before him.

Bridges took one last look at his brief Brooklyn chapter as the Knicks opened training camp at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. While Bridges has praised the Brooklyn Nets experience for developing and maturing him as a player, he couldn’t help but look back on a few misfires amidst a brutal single full season.

“In the beginning, it was tough in Brooklyn, with the losing,” Bridges said in video from SNY. “Even personally, I didn’t handle it as well as I could and I always preach mental toughness and never losing your spirit but that was something I never dealt with and I think it was just like a lot for that team in general when I was there and the expectations for everybody. I don’t think I handled it as good as I shoud’ve.”

The Nets acquired Bridges from the Phoenix Suns at the 2023 trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Kevin Durant to the desert. Bridges was viewed by some as the face of the franchise after he averaged 26.1 points in 27 appearances, which helped the Nets avoid the 2023 Play-In Tournament.

Bridges’ time atop the Brooklyn pecking order, however, proved to be an ordeal: most of his major statistical categories endured noticeable dips and Brooklyn missed the playoffs with a 32-50 posting, ending a five-year postseason streak. Making things even more difficult was the fact that Bridges was just three years removed from an NBA Finals appearance with the Suns in 2021.

The Nets traded Bridges to the Knicks in a rare parley between the two sides, getting back several future first-round picks and Bojan Bogdanovic. The new deal once again situates Bridges with Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, his Villanova teammates who helped him sustain the Wildcats’ legendary run of Big East prosperity in the 2010s. He and Brunson were around for two national title runs while Hart was with them in the first in 2016.

Though he’s working with a small sample size, Bridges has enjoyed the Manhattan vibes in the early going.

“Coming here, it’s good. Everybody’s locked in,” Bridges said. “Everybody’s motivated and Coach (Tom Thibodeau) has got everybody locked in, so, I mean, it’s great to be here.”

Time will tell if Bridges makes his unofficial metropolitan debut on Sunday evening when the Knicks face the Charlotte Hornets in their preseason tip-off (5 p.m. ET, MSG).

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