
When the New York Knicks won their first NBA Finals in over 50 years, it wasn't just superstar Jalen Brunson carrying the load.
It was an all-around team effort with contributions coming from everywhere, including veteran guard Mikal Bridges, who averaged 13.5 points and shot 55.9% from the field.
That production hasn't carried over into the regular season, though, and a disastrous start to the season for Bridges may be forcing Knicks head coach Mike Brown into an impossible decision.
To say that Bridges is in a slump to start the season would be putting it lightly. Through the first 11 games for New York, Bridges is averaging a career-worst 6.3 points per game on 32.9% shooting from the field and 26.9% from three-point range.
He's reached double-digit points just once and has finished below five points in five games. He's taken double-digit shot attempts just twice in 11 games and has shot at least 50% from the field just twice as well.
The major lack of production has been completely shocking, and it has led the aforementioned Brown to begin making tough decisions, as Bridges has logged less than 20 minutes in back-to-back games.
Mike Brown on Mikal Bridges not playing in the fourth quarter and whether he’d consider taking him out of the starting lineup: pic.twitter.com/q5tQHH9txH
— Jared Schwartz (@jschwartz115) November 12, 2026
Mikal Bridges this season:
— Real App (@realapp) November 12, 2026
5.9 PPG
32.9% FG
26.5% 3PT
He has more fouls than made threes. pic.twitter.com/ltfAUW7jea
Brown did say he would not make a knee-jerk decision to bench Bridges, but it feels that at some point, something will have to give.
That may mean giving Bridges multiple games off to reset, something that would end his consecutive games played streak. That streak reached 642 games on Wednesday, the longest active streak in the entire NBA.
If he does not begin to perform sooner rather than later, Bridges' streak may be in jeopardy, and he'd have no one to blame but himself.
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