Mikal Bridges Welcomes Knicks New Guard With Cheesy Nickname

Newly-minted New York Knick Mikal Bridges hammed it up when welcoming one of his fellow first-year Manhattanites.

When ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke news of Landry Shamet’s metropolitan arrival, Bridges welcomed in his former Phoenix Suns teammate with a cheesy nickname on his Instagram story, leaving only a cheese emoji on a post of the announcement (h/t New York Basketball on X). Shamet personally credited Bridges with coming up with the name in December 2021 (h/t Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports).

Well-versed Suns fans will likely appreciate the callback, as Bridges referenced Shamet’s humorous nickname from his days in the desert. The two previously parts of two seasons with the Suns, the first landing in the 2021 NBA Finals, producing Phoenix’s first Western Conference title since 1993.

Though that championship showdown ended in heartbreak (the Suns fell in six to a Milwaukee Bucks group featuring an injured Donte DiVincenzo), the Knicks have formed a bit of a reunion show by acquiring three players from that run, with Cameron Payne previously joining Bridges and Shamet. Yet another former desert dweller, Keita Bates-Diop, was acquired in the trade that brought Bridges over from the Brooklyn Nets but he was still stationed in San Antonio durin the Suns’ run.

Shamet figures to be a shooter off the bench, notably placing 11th in three-point success rate (44.2 percent) en route to second-team All-Rookie honors in 2018-19, which saw him go from Philadelphia to the Los Angeles Clippers after the former drafted him 26th overall. Since then, Shamet has played for three different teams and spent last year with the Washington Wizards.

Shamet likewise posted to his Instagram story, posting a photo of the Freedom Tower, located just over three miles away from his new basketball home of Madison Square Garden, in Lower Manhattan alongside a caption of “Go Knicks.”

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