In the current NBA world of load management, Mikal Bridges is unique. The New York Knicks forward hasn't missed a game during his seven-year NBA career. He kept that streak going on Sunday, but the way he did it made fans furious.
Bridges started the Knicks' season finale against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. The game is largely meaningless, as New York is locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, so he didn't need to play. And, well, he really didn't.
The game tipped off and Bridges immediately committed a foul, then checked out of the game for good. He played six seconds.
— . (@dphoop2425) April 13, 2025
While Bridges will technically now have 556 consecutive games played, the longest active streak in the NBA, the way he did it irked people.
Fans took to social media to express their disgust.
Just shows the streak itself doesn’t mean anything
— Robbie Bangers (@RobertSportsBet) April 13, 2025
But if didn’t actually play the game it shouldn’t count
— Brick by Brick (@marathonkash) April 13, 2025
Bro couldn’t at least play for 5 mins 😭 dawg at least respect the fans paying money to see you
— Manish (@sbmanish7) April 13, 2025
torn on this. respect the hustle but makes a little bit of a mockery of it at the same time.
— Corey Dawkins (@cidawkins) April 13, 2025
This so lame lol
— J̸A̸K̸E̸ (@7J4KE) April 13, 2025
It's genuinely impressive that Bridges has never missed a game in seven seasons. But it does feel a bit cheap to only play six seconds for the express purpose of extending that streak.
The Knicks paid handsomely to land Bridges over the summer, sending three players, five first-round picks, a second-rounder, and a first-round pick swap to land him. In his first season in New York, the 28-year-old has averaged 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 37.5 minutes per game, all while appearing in all 82 contests. Well, sort of.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fans Mocked Mikal Bridges Cheaply Keeping Consecutive Games Streak Alive.
