The 24-year-old restricted free agent originally pleaded not guilty back in July after being charged in June. Bridges changed his plea to no contest on Thursday, agreeing to the sentence of three years probation, while avoiding any jail time.
Bridges was accused by his now-former girlfriend of assault in front of her two children earlier this year. Three charges were originally filed, with two being dismissed after accepting the conviction.
The fifth-year small forward will be required to perform 100 hours of community service, attend a year’s worth of domestic violence counseling, and a year of parenting classes. A few minor fines are included, which can be paid for with money Bridges might have lying around in the ashtray of his vehicle.
The sarcasm will be heavy at times with this one, boys and girls.
You never put your hands on a woman in anger, especially if that woman is a mother to young children. Bridges is 6-foot-7, meaning his accuser could only be larger if standing on a chair or ladder, or Bridges was sitting down.
Bridges was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Hornets, averaging 13.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in his four seasons. The Hornets are saving $16.26 million by not having re-signed Bridges as yet. A qualifying offer was issued, but the legal issues surely will hold up further negotiations.
The NBA holds the right to suspend, fine, dismiss disquality Bridges after he signs with any franchise, now that he has pleaded no contest and been placed on probation.
Charlotte sits at 3-5 on the young season, having been blown out by the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night 106-88. The Hornets also lost all five preseason games, but somehow found a way to knock off Golden State just before Halloween. LaMelo Ball has not played yet this season due to an ankle injury, while separate injuries will keep Charlotte's two leading scorers--Gordon Hayward (shoulder) and Terry Rozier (ankle) sidelined for Friday’s contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. Bridges might have been little more than an available body at this point if signed.
Bridges was fined $50,000 by the NBA in mid-April for throwing his mouthpiece into the crowd after being ejected in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. Steph Curry did it after fouling out in Game Six of the 2016 NBA Finals, as the mouthpiece struck a fan in the first row. Curry was not fined, but did receive the same fine as Bridges when he did it a second time in October 2017.
I am certainly not comparing Miles Bridges to Steph Curry. There are a lot of people who wish Aisha Curry would just shut up online, but any one of them certainly would not morally adjudicate physical harm against her.
Steph Curry, LeBron James and countless others are too in love with their wives where this is not even a thought that crosses their mind. The fact that Bridges went to these extremes certainly terminates any credibility his reputation may have for the remainder of his playing career, whenever it may resume.
Kyrie Irving was suspended five games by the Brooklyn Nets for his antisemetic comments last week, in a move that many call “too little, too late.” Irving’s mouth is quickly shortening his playing career, as if his history of injury was not doing that enough. I am about 95-percent over Irving bringing a championship to my hometown Cavaliers in 2016 anymore with his rhetoric.
Adam Silver needs to make just as impactful a statement of Bridges as the Nets did of Irving, once he legally is able to do so under the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement.
-JC24