Mikal Bridges says he was far from happy when the Phoenix Suns selected him in the 2018 NBA Draft, recalling that his disappointment was visible even during the post-draft photos.
“Media, pictures, you can see it, bro. I had a fake smile. I couldn’t even smile,” Bridges said on the Roommates Show. “I was really mad as hell. I was so pissed.”
Bridges said he did not celebrate after the draft, instead going directly home and to bed because he was unhappy with where his NBA career appeared to be headed.
“I didn’t even go out after the draft. I went home, went straight to bed,” Bridges said. “Like, what am I supposed to be happy for? I was mad at myself at that point.”
The reaction came before Bridges ultimately spent his first 4½ NBA seasons with Phoenix, where he developed from a rotation wing into one of the league’s most durable two-way players. He appeared in all 82 games as a rookie in 2018-19 and again in each of the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons.
His production rose steadily with the Suns. Bridges averaged 8.3 points as a rookie, then reached 13.5 points while shooting 54.3% from the field and 42.5% from three-point range in 2020-21.
He followed that with a career-high 14.2 points per game in 2021-22 and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting while earning a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Bridges also started all 82 games that season, averaging 34.8 minutes per night.
Phoenix traded Bridges to the Brooklyn Nets in February 2023 as part of the Kevin Durant deal. He averaged 26.1 points in 27 games with Brooklyn after the trade, a major increase from his 17.2-point average in 56 games with the Suns that season.
Bridges was later traded to the New York Knicks, where he has remained one of the NBA’s most reliable players. He played all 82 games in both 2024-25 and 2025-26, averaging 17.6 and 14.4 points, respectively.
The Knicks went 53-29 during the 2025-26 regular season, finishing third in the Eastern Conference before defeating the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
Across eight NBA seasons, Bridges has played 638 of a possible 656 regular-season games and made 571 starts. His career averages stand at 14.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 48.5% from the field and 37.1% from three-point range.
What began with Bridges leaving the 2018 draft disappointed ultimately turned into the foundation of a career that included a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up finish, 638 consecutive-caliber appearances and an NBA championship.
