Knicks Hope Nets Show Mikal Bridges Love

When it comes to giving a current New York Knick a warm welcome back, it's up to you, New York, New York ... Brooklyn, to be precise.
There's a little something extra on the line when the Knicks (28-16) embark on the latest chapter of their rivalry with the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/TNT), as it'll be the first such staging since a rare trade was enacted between the metropolitan adversaries over the summer. The Knicks obtained Mikal Bridges in exchange for a sizable package headlined by the relative clear-out of their expansive draft pick cabinet.
“It’ll be good to be back,” Bridges said of his impending return, per CJ Holmes of the New York Daily News. “To see my teammates and the coaching staff that was there for a couple of months before I got traded, see the staff and everybody, [I’m expecting] good energy.”
When the Nets (14-29) visited Madison Square Garden for consecutive games in November, there wasn't much emotion on the Knicks end: most of the new Nets don't have names yet and the veterans sent are either already gone (Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton) or injured (Bojan Bogdanovic), so there were no video tributes prepared.
For Bridges, however, an emotional return awaits to a spot that served as a stepping stone to where his career his settled as a vital part in a metropolitan championship puzzle. Bridges originally came to the Empire State as the Nets unloaded marquee talents after their latest title chase veered off course. He was obtained from the Phoenix Suns in the deal that ended Brooklyn's Kevin Durant era at the 2023 trade deadline.
Some viewed Bridges as the face of the Brooklyn franchise after Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving were sent elsewhere. It seem to work at first, as Bridges averaged over 26 points and helped the Nets secure an automatic playoff spot over 27 debut showings. But he struggled to maintain that pace last season as the Nets foundered to 50 losses and their first postseason absence since 2018.
Despite his struggles as a headliner, Bridges has routinely praised the way Brooklyn set the tone for the rest of his career. A trade to the Knicks, whose championship hopes have taken on a realistic aura for the first time in a long while, allowed Bridges to settle back into a supporting role, one where he previously floruished when the Suns reached the 2021 NBA Finals.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau couldn't be more grateful.
"You want everyone to make sacrifices for the betterment of the team, and he's done that," Thibodeau said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. "We know what he's done in this league. But when you have the players that we have, they all have to make sacrifices. He has played really good basketball for us. And as time goes on, it'll get better and better."
Though it's often hard for the Knicks-Nets rivalry to conjure up any true hatred, it's perhaps fair to expect a tepid reception when Bridges is introduced on Tuesday at Barclays Center. The fact that Bridges played a major role in the Nets' demise back on Nov. 15 at MSG (blocking departed Net Dennis Schroeder's would-be equalizer at the buzzer) will only add to the potential hostilities.
Past and present teammate Josh Hart hopes Brooklyn will put any differences aside when the time is right on Tuesday.
“I think they should show him love,” Hart told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “Obviously he was only there for a year-and-half, but he played as hard as he could there. Obviously last year I harassed him on social media. He caught some flak for that. But he was always committed to that franchise and that fan base."
“Now he’s here and they got a hell of a haul for him. So I think it was a win-win for both franchises and they should show him love when he gets there," he said.