Mikal Bridges Discusses 'Welcome to the NBA' Moment

At 22-years-old, former Sun Mikal Bridges had a solid rookie season in 2018-19.

The Villanova product averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game in his first year in the league. Early in the season, however, Bridges struggled against the Thunder, revealing in an interview that his "Welcome to the NBA" moment came against Oklahoma City.

Give this a listen.

Mikal Bridges on his “Welcome to the NBA moment”:

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"My welcome to the NBA, was Russ and Paul George and... Steven Adams," Bridges said in the interview. "Playing them, I have to guard Russ. He's going to go at me full speed, he's going to try and dunk me, he's going to bully me. Then you've got Paul George, he's going to try and mix me, make me fall."

"Then you've got Steven Adams. When I don't guard him one-on-one, I have to get in a ball screen... That was one game where I walked in the locker room and was like, 'my body hurts, I just played an NBA game for real.'"

Interestingly enough, one of Westbrook, George and Adams was absent from each of OKC's four contests against the Suns that season.

In Bridges' first career meeting against the Thunder in October 2018, Phoenix fell 117-110. The then-rookie from Villanova scored nine points, grabbed one rebound and notched two steals in the loss while Westbrook and George combined for 46 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, seven steals and two blocks.

Adams missed the first meeting between the two teams with a calf injury.

Phoenix played Oklahoma City again a few weeks later in mid-November. Bridges recorded 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, one steal and three turnovers in his second game against OKC, shooting 3-of-8 from the field in a 118-101 loss.

This time, the Thunder were without Westbrook, but that didn't slow down George and company. The eight-time All-Star pitched in 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Adams notched 18 points, seven rebounds, four steals two blocks and one assist.

Less than a week later, both squads met again, with Westbrook once again not in the lineup. George had another stellar game, scoring 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists.

Adams added 26 points, 10 rebounds and one steal of his own in the 110-100 victory over the Suns.

The final contest between Phoenix and OKC that year saw Westbrook explode for 40 points in a 118-102 victory. With George battling a quad injury, Westbrook had one of his best games all season, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out eight assists in addition to his high scoring output.

In that contest, Adams scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, also recording three steals and three assists in the win.

Given the incredible outputs that the Thunder's talented trio was able to put on display against Phoenix in 2018, it is no surprise that Bridges' chose OKC as his "Welcome to the NBA" moment.

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