Knicks’ Mikal Bridges Reveals Why He ‘Freaks’ When Subbed Out

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Mikal Bridges #25 of the New York Knicks

If there’s one thing that Knicks wing Mikal Bridges prides himself on, it’s his status as an NBA iron man. He has played an entire 82-game schedule three times, played an 83-game slate once, and played all 72 games in the Covid-19-shortened 2020-21 season. He has led the league in minutes played three times in his career.

Bridges has played all 32 games for the Knicks this season, but after playing a career-high 37.3 minutes per game, he has had to make an adjustment under new coach Mike Brown–Brown is trying to get Bridges more rest, trying to keep him fresher by subbing out for him earlier in games. Bridges is playing 35.3 minutes per game this year.

Knicks’ Mikal Bridges: ‘Sometimes You Need a Break’

And it’s taking some adjustments from the Knicks star, who is averaging 16.4 points while having one of his most efficient scoring seasons–he is making 52.4% of his shots and 41.7% of his 3-pointers.

“I’m so used to playing a lot so — even though I’m still playing a lot,” Bridges said, via the New York Post. “But sometimes I might get subbed out and I’m looking like, ‘What?’ So I know something’s right. Because I freak out sometimes, like, ‘You’re getting me [out]?’ But then I’ll sit down and come back in after a couple minutes or something. So it’s something to get used to.

“But that’s also about building relationship with my coaches and stuff. As a player, it’s tough. You might miss a couple shots, you might mess up defensively, and you’re prepping yourself to make the next play and you might get subbed out and you’ll be questioning yourself, like coach does not [like] this and that. But sometimes you need a break, you know?”

GettyMike Brown, coach of the New York Knicks

Mike Brown Cutting Back Top Knicks’ Minutes

Brown has made it a point to reduce his core five players’ minutes this year, with the exception of star Jalen Brunson, whose minutes are essentially the same (35.4 per game last year, 35.5 this year). But OG Anunoby has gone from 36.6 minutes down to 32.1 this year. Karl-Anthony Towns has gone from 35.0 to 32.8, and Josh Hart has seen the biggest drop, from a league-high 37.6 minutes to 30.3.

Bridges, though, wasn’t happy about seeing his playing time rolled back. He credits Brown with communicating about it.

“I try to communicate with everybody. But I’m human just like everybody else,” Brown said. “Sometimes I may not communicate enough. Sometimes I may try to over-communicate. It’s a fine line that you’ve got to try to figure out. Everybody is human, and everybody needs to be touched. That’s all I was trying to do with Mikal. I was just trying to touch him, to get his thoughts. Let him know my thoughts.

“Because you know, everybody does it, including me. You assume certain things. It makes an ass out of you and me. That’s all it was. Is, ‘Mikal, what’s going? This is what I think. This is what I’m seeing, this is what I’m feeling. Am I right? Am I wrong? You give feedback.’”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney