Knicks Star Reveals Origin of Unexpected Celebration

New York Knicks star Mikal Bridges is building bridges between sports.

Bridges has become well-known for his three-point celebration, commemorating his points with various points with an appropriate three fingers. Considering it’s a new introduction to Manhattan–joining Jalen Brunson’s hand to the mouth–Bridges was queried about his jubilation by Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

The first-year Knicks offered an unlikely source.

“The [San Diego] Padres,” Bridges admitted, referring to the Major League Baseball team. “The Padres did it years ago when I was in Phoenix. They’d get an extra-base hit and point to the dugout and turn their heads. I was watching that, watching baseball, and thought, ‘That’s something I might do.’”

Bridges, a fan of Padres All-Star infield Manny Machado, has done so and then some, sinking a combined 250 three-pointers over the last two seasons. He has hit 10 over the last five games, including two in his return to Phoenix when he faced his original NBA employers on Wednesday night. New York took a 138-122 decision in a sterling offensive showcase.

It has been a week of homecomings for Bridges, who also endured two visits from the Brooklyn Nets, who sent him to Manhattan back in June in a rare barter between the crossborough rivals. He hit seven from deep in the latest edition of the long-standing pleasantries, giving him plenty of chances to show off his diamond-inspired celebration–much to the chagrin of his former teammates.

“It’s annoying,” Nets scorer Cam Johnson, the target of several Bridges points, said of the celebration after the Knicks’ latter victory on Sunday (h/t New York Basketball on X). “It’s very annoying.”

Bridges is in the process of taking his celebration on tour, as the Knicks are engaged in a five-game road trip that continues on Saturday against the Utah Jazz (5 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).

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