Mikal Bridges Changes Jersey Number With Knicks

For his New York Knicks debut, Mikal Bridges is going back to school.

The newly-minted Knick announced on Monday that his first blue-and-orange jersey will bear the No. 25, reverting to the digits he previously wore as a Villanova Wildcat.

“Switching back to #25,” Bridges announced in an X post. “Have a blessed day .. sorry for the ones that bought #1 jerseys already.”

Bridges got to retain his college number for his first four NBA seasons with the Phoenix Suns, but switched to No. 1 upon his trade to the Brooklyn Nets in 2023. The Nets franchise previously retired No. 25 in honor of Bill Melchionni, a star from the team’s ABA heyday. Ironically enough, Melchionni is also a native of Philadelphia who starred at Villanova, a path that Bridges embarked upon decades after the former’s Wildcat heyday. Bridges got to wear No. 25 despite the Villanova program retiring Melchionni’s jersey in 1995.

Bridges was acquired from the Nets earlier this summer in a multi-pronged deal headline by five future selections imported from Manhattan. He joins fellow former Wildcats Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart as the Knicks seek to build on last year’s success by fully leaning into the “Nova Knicks” trope.

Upon his official introduction earlier this month, Bridges bore a Knicks jersey showcasing his Brooklyn digit but now moves to the number that helped secure him two collegiate national titles and an NBA Finals appearance with the Suns in 2021. In further metropolitan irony, the last player to wear No. 25 in New York was Mamadi Diakite, one of the final pieces of the trade that secured Bridges’ services. Brooklyn has since traded Diakite to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Former starting center and eventual Chicago Bulls champion Bill Cartwright is the most accomplished wearer of the No. 25 uniform in New York. Other notable bearers include Doc Rivers, Derrick Rose, and Reggie Bullock.

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