Watch: Miles Bridges starts shoving match in final seconds against Warriors
Miles Bridges turned to violence on Friday night.
The Golden State Warriors' 97-84 victory over the Charlotte Hornets was effectively over with ten seconds remaining. Coaches Steve Kerr and Steve Clifford were already shaking hands when the game erupted into chaos.
Lester Quinones shot a layup with 12 seconds left, rather than take a shot clock violation. Charlotte's Bridges goaltended the shot, then angrily shoved Quinones. Players on both teams ran over, with newly-acquired Grant Williams jawing with Quinones, who repeated a certain pejorative over and over at Williams. Warning for profanity on the below video.
When the dust settled, Bridges got a technical foul, and both Quinones and Williams were ejected. The Hornets dribbled out the clock and everyone went home.
This wasn't much of a fight, even by the low bar for NBA scuffles, but it's a bad indicator for Bridges' ability to control his anger. Sure, plenty of NBA players try to enforce the "unwritten rules" about when you can and cannot shoot at the end of games.
In fall 2022, Bridges pleaded no contest to felony domestic violence charges and subsequently missed the entire NBA season. Bridges now heads into an uncertain free agency period with many questions about his violent behavior.
The hero of this scuffle was Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, who attempted to protect his player from a replay review by blocking the baseline camera with his iPad.
The Warriors snapped the Hornets' four-game win streak, while Bridges, Quinones and Williams just snapped.
If you or anyone you know is affected by domestic violence, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), via text (text START to 88788, message and data rates may apply) and via live chat at thehotline.org.
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