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Mikal Bridges was benched for all but three minutes of the second half, as coach Mike Brown rode with streaking reserves Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet to beat the Bulls 133-127 on Wednesday. Bridges, who has struggled mightily to start the season, finished with three points in 13 minutes. It represented his shortest appearance as a Knick outside of the two times Bridges was subbed in briefly to maintain his consecutive games played streak. Part of the reason, according to Brown, was the Kolek-Jalen Brunson backcourt combination was effective. “We just found a combination we went with,” Brown said. “One of the things [assistant coach] Rick Brunson suggested was throwing Kolek in the game with Jalen. Just to give them a different look and get Jalen off the ball and put Tyler on the floor.
It feels like entering his third season with the Knicks, fan sentiment around him should be at an all-time high. But does he actually now feel fully appreciated by Knicks fans? “I don’t know,” Bridges said. “I’m not sure about that. Can just say that I’m appreciative of fans. If I see them when I’m walking my dog or something like that, just a lot of nice things to say. That’s foremost, kind of more like a human on human interaction, just very nice and grateful to be in this position. I don’t need to feel like there’s validation and there’s like, ‘OK, now he can…’ No, I hold myself accountable at all times.”
Shams Charania: "This is a growing cloud around the New York Knicks. Karl-Anthony Towns has made it clear to the Knicks that he is willing to take a considerable discount on his contract extension coming up, just like his teammates have, like Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, as well as Jalen Brunson. But right now, the Knicks want him to take a substantial pay cut, what he believes to be an extreme discount on his deal. Sources tell me the Knicks are offering Towns a four-year, approximately $200 million contract extension. That is $76 million less than his max."
But the highlight of the monologue, and arguably the entire show, was Jalen Brunson taking questions from four audience members who just happened to be his teammates in the Knicks’ starting lineup: Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. Towns learned he can’t foul out of an SNL episode, Bridges lamented that his long arms won’t allow him to fly, and Anunoby channeled Chris Farley to note how awesome it was to score a game-winning put-back after a missed Brunson shot in Game 4. Brunson had the most fun with Hart, questioning him for grabbing Brunson from behind after the Knicks clinched the NBA Cup, while also showing a clip of Hart missing a layup in Game 4, leaving Hart to try passing off that miss as artificial intelligence. Brunson invited his teammates on stage to cap the monologue, creating an image never seen before in the show’s history: a starting lineup of defending NBA champions sharing the stage at Studio 8H.
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Jalen Brunson hosted the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, and he did not do it alone. Midway through his opening monologue, the Knicks captain said he would take questions from the audience, and the camera panned to Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart sitting in the crowd. Towns went first, wondering why Brunson was wearing glasses indoors before asking a more practical question. “Can you foul out of SNL?” he asked. Told that he could not, Towns lit up. “So I could be here like the whole show? Nice.”
Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart were in attendance at the U.S. Open on Friday as part of another star-studded crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium for Ben Shelton’s semifinal win over fellow American Frances Tiafoe. Brunson attended with his wife, Ali, and was sitting next to one of the Knicks’ most recognizable celebrity fans, Ben Stiller. Stiller’s wife, actress Christine Taylor, was also seated with her husband and the Brunsons.
Mikal Bridges: "I feel like I always deadlift to this day. It's always like a main exercise throughout every program I have. It's always a main. As much as I hate it, like the single leg split stance, like that Bulgarian split squat, as much, that's how I know it's good for you because how much you don't like it. If it hurts and it's painful, then it's probably a good thing. It's doing something right."
Trey Murphy, Pelicans. Murphy’s contract is not prohibitive (three years, $87 million) and because he is a wing who can play both ways, he has been especially coveted on the market. But the Pelicans have not gotten serious about moving him yet, because he is still only 26 and the team wants to see how the roster comes together. They’ve asked for as much as four-first-round picks, as the Grizzlies got for Desmond Bane, but that price will come down if the Pelicans move him. Western Conference executive: “I think they’d still hold firm on three first-rounders for him. They look at the return for Mikal Bridges (five first-rounders) and Bane and they see Murphy in the same category. But those deals, teams are not going to want to do those going forward. So, a good young rotation player and two first-rounders is probably where you land.”
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Vogue Magazine: Meet Sonny Bridges, the canine son of NBA champion Mikal Bridges and our latest #Dogue cover star. At the link in our bio, read all about Bridges’ 10-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, who is also a proud Libra.
Mikal Bridges: "I wasn't happy with my own play... I'm the ultimate competitor... All I think about is my job... When they feel like I'm struggling, trust me, I know I am, and I'm trying to do whatever it takes to get over that hump."
Mikal Bridges: "It's been great. I don't think I can really step outside my home, walk up a block without a lot of fans, but it's cool because they deserve it. They've been here for so long, so I'm happy for them. Even for me stopping by and taking pictures of stuff, I know it means so much to them as well, so it's been pretty cool."
Ian Begley: “That bothered the heck out of me. Because it had nothing to do with Mikal (Bridges). That was the price I was willing to pay.” Leon Rose on criticisms of Mikal Bridges based on the 5 first round picks Knicks sent to BKN to acquire him:
