The Charlotte Hornets were without Miles Bridges Monday night in their 114-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors, and the reason for the forwards absence is now known.
Bridges, who was expected to play, but was then mysteriously scratched roughly an hour before tipoff, was reportedly denied entry to Canada due to his past legal troubles. The 25 year old previously pleaded no contest to a felony charge of injuring a child’s parent and is now serving 3 years probation in exchange for no jail time.
Hornets head coach Steve Clifford was vague in his statements regarding Bridges absence, telling reporters that “The only thing I’m going to say is neither Miles nor [Nathan Mensah] will be here with us tonight. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Charlotte, who were already without starters LaMelo Ball (ankle), and Mark Williams (back), suddenly found themselves without a 3rd key piece of their lineup and were subsequently easily dispatched by the Raptors. With the loss the Hornets fell to 7-18 in what’s becoming an increasingly frustrating season for the club.
After sitting out all of last year as the legal process played out, Bridges then served a 10 game suspension from the NBA to begin the 2023-24 campaign. Since returning, the Flint, Michigan native has averaged 19.6pts/7.2reb/2.4ast per game across 14 contests.
Drafted 12th overall out of Michigan State in 2018, the versatile wing has steadily improved each season. However his off court issues gave pause to the Hornets front office when his rookie deal expired in 2022. At a time when many rookies would be looking to cash in on a lucrative extension, Bridges and Charlotte agreed on a 1 year, $7.9M deal which will see the former Spartan become a free agent in the offseason.
With the team headed back stateside to face the Pacers on Wednesday, Bridges is expected to rejoin the lineup.
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.