Searching for a bright spot in another dim season? Hornets’ Miles Bridges proves his worth
Little has gone right for the Charlotte Hornets in 2024-25.
In another lost season, one filled with few bright spots like Monday night’s 105-102 win over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center, there’s been few constants.
While the inordinate number of injuries and heaping piles of defeats have stacked up, zapping a lot of the optimism that waffled around the organization in early fall, it hasn’t deterred the Hornets’ longest-tenured player.
In fact, the rough patches have motivated Miles Bridges even more.
“I think Miles just personally has taken it upon himself to spark our team with his energy, with his effort, with his communication,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “And it’s just another example of his leadership taking another step. The most powerful teams are the ones that are kind of self-led or self-run by the players themselves.
“So, thank goodness for him because I think he’s been phenomenal at it.”
Inked to a three-year, $75 million pact in July following his foray into unrestricted free agency, who knows where the Hornets would be without Bridges. He’s easily been their most reliable player, something that ratcheted up a notch once Brandon Miller got knocked out for the season with a right wrist injury, and durability certainly isn’t an issue.
Save for a bruised bone in his right knee sidelining him for 13 games — over two separate spells because he reaggravated it after coming back too early — he’s been as healthy as any of the Hornets’ core players.
It’s allowed him to flourish on the court and his command on things was on full display against the Heat, particularly in the fourth quarter and during crunch time in the waning minutes. With the game on the line and the Hornets looking to seal their second straight victory, it was Bridges who was handed the responsibility of knocking down the game-sealing free throws, getting the inbounds play drawn up for him to receive the ball.
“I just love the team,” Bridges said. “So, I always want to be vocal. And during tough times, crunch times I like to show up. You dream of those moments when you are a little kid. So, I’m happy about it.”
And playing about as well as he has in his five-plus seasons, doing much more than combining with good buddy LaMelo Ball for captivating high-flying dunks. Entering their matchup against Miami, Bridges had averaged 29.6 points, nine rebounds and 4.4 assists during his last five games, a mark only met during that same span by Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.
After dropping in 35 points against the Heat, he’s posted 30 or more points in three of his last five outings, including that impressive career-best 46-point effort against Cleveland, the top team in the Eastern Conference and a contender for the NBA championship.
But it’s not just all about offense with Bridges. He’s digging in on the opposite end, too.
“Yeah, Miles has been playing great,” Mark Williams said. “He’s doing everything for us. He’s scoring the ball at an incredible rate right now, defending, finding open teammates and rebounding. So, he’s been great for us for sure.”
Sum it all up and it equates to Bridges being the Hornets’ most valuable player.
“I think his game,” Lee said, “the way he’s been playing on both ends of the floor, accepting every responsibility defensively that he can and communicating. And then offensively, having to score, having to pass while also just trying to win every 50-50 ball and coming up with that game-winning block last game (against Brooklyn) was crucial.
“So, I think it starts with Miles, it starts with Melo, it starts with a lot of those veteran guys that have been around and have been in a lot of tough situations. And they create more confidence, they create more energy, belief in our group as we’ve kind of one through the season.”
