Mikal Bridges has built upon his reputation as the NBA's undisputed “Iron Man” this season. The Brooklyn Nets forward reached another milestone on Tuesday, playing in his 500th consecutive game, including the regular season and playoffs.
Bridges' mark is the longest active streak in the NBA and the 13th longest of all time. He sits 29 games behind Michael Finley for the 12th spot on the list. A.C. Green holds the all-time record, playing 1,192 straight games from 1986 to 2001.
Bridges has accomplished the feat while emerging as one of the NBA's top three-and-D wings. The Villanova product has averaged 17.0 points per game on 49/38/85 shooting splits over his last four seasons. He earned a first-team All-Defense selection and finished runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year in 2022.
“Nobody sees the practices that he doesn't sit out. Everybody focuses on the game, but he's there in practice, and his workouts and doing the things that he does in the dark when nobody's looking. That's more impressive to me than just games,” Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie said. “He's never absent to anything. He's always present. So a great accomplishment for him… 500 is a big time, and we’re just gonna take you to support him as he’s on his journey.”
Cam Johnson offers praise for longtime teammate
No teammate has had a closer look at Bridges' durability than his “Twin,” Cam Johnson. After spending the last five seasons together, Johnson feels Bridges' streak deserves recognition across the NBA.
“It's incredible. He doesn't take days off. He doesn't take days off working out, he doesn't take days off when it comes to recovery, and he's been working on his game the whole time trying to get better. So I think that needs to be talked about, I think that's something that's really special,” he said. “I'm proud of him and his commitment, and I've been lucky to play alongside him for a portion of those.”
Bridges drew All-Star hype following a breakout 27-game stretch to close last season. After joining Brooklyn from Phoenix in the blockbuster Kevin Durant trade, he averaged 26.1 points on 48/38/89 shooting splits.
However, following a productive first half of 2023-24, Bridges has struggled to carry the load as the Nets' number-one option in recent months. Those struggles have become increasingly glaring down the stretch. The 27-year-old is averaging 15.9 points on 37.3 percent shooting over his last 14 appearances. He's faded into the background considerably amid the shooting slump, ranking third in field goal attempts (12.9 per game) over Brooklyn's last eight games.
After leading the NBA in minutes the last two seasons, Bridges ranks second this year. He also ranked second on Team USA during the FIBA World Cup this past summer. That mileage and his being thrust into a lead-scoring role for the first time in his career have led to questions about fatigue amid his poor close to the year.
However, Ollie has maintained that Bridges is healthy and will be on the floor until he states otherwise, a stance he reaffirmed Tuesday.
“I just think we always sit down with our medical team, we think about what’s best for the organization, what’s best for the players,” the coach said. “We all talk, it’s communal, it’s a community. So we’re all talking about that, of course. We’re gonna make the best decision for Mikal and the best decision for our organization if something ever arises like that. But now we’re going to support him, we’re going to be out there for him, and we want him to continue the streak.”
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