It’s weird to call Miles Bridges an “NBA veteran” but one of the “older” Spartans in the NBA is playing some of the best basketball of his career with the Hornets this season.
After missing the entire 2022-23 season due to disappointing off-the-court issues, Bridges has vowed to get back on the right track. While I can’t vouch for his off-the-court improvements in his personal life, I can say that he’s playing some of the best basketball of his professional career in Charlotte.
Bridges has never really been able to lead the Hornets out of the gutter in his NBA career, never winning more than 43 games in a single season. He’s also never played in a single playoff game as the Hornets haven’t been there since 2015-16 — he was a senior in high school the last time Charlotte went to the playoffs.
It’s not looking good this season, but Bridges is playing well enough to lead the Hornets back to the postseason for the first time in a decade.
Miles Bridges is having a career year type of season
The Hornets are just 11-20 this season, but Bridges is the team’s leading scorer at 20.3 per game, just ahead of LaMelo Ball and rookie sensation Kon Knueppel.
The former Michigan State superstar is also playing the most minutes he’s seen in a couple of seasons, and he’s making the most of them. He’s not quite at career year numbers, but he’s on track to at least challenge each statistical category.
Let’s look at the numbers and where they rank in his seven-year NBA career:
Points: 20.3 (3rd)
Rebounds: 6.3 (4th)
Assists: 3.9 (1st)
Field goal percentage: 43.0 (6th)
Free throw percentage: 84.2 (3rd)
Turnovers: 1.5 (2nd)
The numbers may not be astounding, but he’s within fractions of his career-highs in just about every major category except 3-point and field goal percentages.
Bridges may not quite be an NBA All-Star in his seventh NBA season, but he’s averaging over 20 points per game for a fourth straight year. He’s, once again, a legitimate weapon on the offensive end of the floor and he qualifies as a star in the league.
Not bad for the 7-year vet.