New York Knicks wing Mikal Bridges showed some love to his former team – the Brooklyn Nets – by imploring Knicks fans to appreciate them for helping him develop his game.
“Y’all should appreciate Brooklyn because it made me better,” Bridges said at an event, adding later, “F—, my game grew there.”
The Knicks made a massive move this offseason to add Bridges, trading Bojan Bogdanovic, Mamadi Diakite and Shake Milton – along with a ton of draft capital – to acquire a package headlined by the one-time All-Defensive wing.
Bridges played collegiately at Villanova University with his now-Knicks teammates Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo.
The reunion of the four former Wildcats is certainly intriguing after the Knicks earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and made the second round of the playoffs last season. Injuries ended up hurting the Knicks, as Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, O.G. Anunoby and Bogdanovic all missed time in the playoffs.
Adding Bridges gives the Knicks some more depth for the 2024-25 campaign, and he’s another proven scorer on the roster.
Last season, Bridges averaged 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from beyond the arc. In the 2022-23 season, after he was traded to Brooklyn by the Phoenix Suns, Bridges averaged 26.1 points per contest in 27 games for the Nets. He then averaged 23.5 points per game in the playoffs that season.
In Phoenix, Bridges was more of a role player alongside Devin Booker, Chris Paul and others. He was able to blossom as an offensive player in Brooklyn, where he was given the keys as one of the top options.
While Knicks and Nets fans have a rivalry with both teams residing in New York, Bridges wants Knicks fans to appreciate what the Nets allowed him to do in his career – and hopefully, he can bring those skills to the Knicks.
New York should be one of the better teams in the East in the 2024-25 season, especially if it remains healthy. It was one of two teams in the East (along with the Boston Celtics) to win 50 games in the 2023-24 season.
Hopefully for Bridges, he will get a chance to remain with the Knicks for a long period of time after being dealt multiple times in recent years.
