CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Miles Bridges, the controversial Charlotte Hornet who is back with the team after pleading no contest to a charge of felony domestic violence, said Tuesday he wanted to apologize for the “pain and embarrassment that I’ve caused to everyone.”
Was that enough penance? To hold a press conference at the Hornets’ home arena and answer questions for the first time in 15 months?
No, of course it wasn’t. And as I’ve written before, I’m not thrilled with the whole idea that Bridges is back on Charlotte’s roster.
I’ll give Bridges this, though: Tuesday was a good start as far as trying to make amends with the Hornets’ fan base. A start was all it was, though. Bridges now must prove he can be trusted again, and that he’s an asset to this community instead of an embarrassment to it.
“A lot of people don’t get a second chance,” Bridges said several times, and he’s right about that. NBA players who averaged 20 points per game in their last full season are more prone to get one, though.
But Bridges also could have slow-played all of this. He could have refused to talk about his no contest plea, his subsequent 30-game NBA suspension and the Hornets’ decision to give him a $7.9 million qualifying offer for this upcoming season anyway, until training camp began in September. A number of athletes who have gotten in trouble have done it exactly like that, hoping that ignoring a problem will simply make it go away. And that never works.
Instead, Bridges and Charlotte general manager Mitch Kupchak held a sometimes uncomfortable 20-minute press conference Tuesday, one in which Kupchak acknowledged the decision to re-sign Bridges was “a polarizing topic.”
“I understand that everybody may not agree,” Kupchak said of the team’s decision to bring Bridges back after the legal process concluded. “It’s a tough situation to be in. ... It’s the best we can do.”
“I understand that (some) people don’t think I deserve a second chance,” Bridges said. “So that’s why I’m trying to use this year to prove to everybody who I am. Who is Miles Bridges? And it’s not (who) people think he is, you know?”
It’s worth noting that the woman who shares two children with Bridges, alleged the domestic violence and posted photos of her swollen face as proof also believes that Bridges deserves another chance to play in the NBA.
“Every human deserves an opportunity at a second chance, not just certain people,” she wrote June 14 on Twitter. “Just think if it was you.” (The Charlotte Observer is not naming the woman, because it typically doesn’t identify people alleging domestic violence).
In terms of logistics: Bridges missed all of last season, and likely a $15-20 million payday for that season, because of the controversy surrounding his actions and the twin investigations of the legal system in California and the NBA.
After Bridges’ “no contest” plea in November in Los Angeles — he wouldn’t comment Tuesday on why he chose that plea rather than having his day in court — the NBA continued its probe and ultimately announced a 30-game suspension in April.
But 20 of those games, the NBA said, will be counted as “time served” due to Bridges missing all of last season in what NBA commissioner Adam Silver characterized as a “mutual agreement.”
Bridges will now miss the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season. Then, after he plays as many of the final 72 games as he can, he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024. So the Hornets will have to decide how much he is worth to them all over again in about 11 months.
“There’s a lot of trust that needs to be earned back,” Kupchak said. And that’s the case both on and off the court for Bridges. From a purely basketball standpoint, he’s only 25 years old and should be in his prime. But he also missed a full year of competition.
In terms of his personal life, Bridges said he has regularly been going to therapy and that he’s trying to become a person that his family and the world at large can be proud of again.
As for his two children, Bridges said: “I have a great relationship with my kids.”
Bridges had what Kupchak characterized as “the best year of his career” in the 2021-22 season, starting 80 games and averaging a team-high 20.2 points as well as 7.0 rebounds. He slammed home many an alley-oop pass from LaMelo Ball, and Ball was a prominent voice in terms of wanting Bridges to return to the team this season, sources said.
Without Bridges in 2022-23, the Hornets went from 43 wins to 27. It wasn’t all because of Bridges — the Hornets had a number of injuries to contend with — but his absence was a major factor.
“I want to thank the Hornets organization once again for giving me a second chance,” Bridges said, “because they didn’t have to.”
No, they didn’t. They’ve ceded some of the moral high ground by re-signing Bridges, certainly. The question that couldn’t be asked in that press conference Tuesday, because no one actually knows the answer yet:
Was it worth it?
