Facing the Magic, Mikal Bridges played the 500th game of his career. It's a symbolic bar but it has a particularity when we talk about the Knicks player: he has still not missed a single game since the start of his NBA career. He is therefore at 500 matches in a row since his first, on October 17, 2018 with Phoenix.
When we know that, from now on, playing a full season with 82 matches is almost an achievement, reserved for a handful of players year after year, stringing together 500 matches in a row is colossal.
“He played 500 matches in a row? » is surprised Karl-Anthony Towns, admiring his teammate's performance. “We're going to have to give him a drug test. »
Without the 2019/2020 and 2020/21 seasons shortened by the Covid-19 pandemic, Mikal Bridges would have had a few more matches under his belt. Even if he also “cheated” a little in April 2023with the Nets, staying four seconds on the floor to keep his series alive.
“When I was in Phoenix, I had a knee injury and we were going to San Antonio. I was nervous and in pain. Then in Brooklyn, I had a problem with my wrist. I thought my hand was broken but it was just my wrist.”he remembers, thinking of the times when he almost forfeited.
AC Green's record possibly broken in… 2033!
We know that Mikal Bridges' consistency does not only date from his arrival among the professionals because, already in high school and then at university, he played every match. He is sometimes less good, this season in defense on screens in particular, but at least he is still there.
“Everyone talks about talent on offense and defense, but the most important thing, what has the most impact, is the ability to be present on the floor. He has this thing. Well done to him, it’s quite an achievement”continues Karl-Anthony Towns.
What about the record for consecutive games played in the NBA? It belongs to AC Green, who had not missed a match since November 18, 1986 until the end of his career on April 18, 2001, that is to say 1,192 in a row! The former Lakers player only missed three games during his career (all in his second season), being present in 99.7% of possible matches between 1985 and 2001.
With his 500 matches in a row, Mikal Bridges is not yet halfway there and, two months ago, he conceded that the record seemed far, very far, too far… “There’s no way I’ll catch up with him,” he said then that, at the end of this exercise, he would need another eight full seasons to hope to beat him, so in 2032/33!
However, he is only the 6th player in history to have played the first 500 games of his career in the NBA, and the first since Terry Tylerwho did it between 1978 and 1985…
| Mikal Bridges | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2018-19 | PHX | 82 | 30 | 43.0 | 33.5 | 80.5 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 8.3 |
| 2019-20 | PHX | 73 | 28 | 51.0 | 36.1 | 84.4 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 9.1 |
| 2020-21 | PHX | 72 | 33 | 54.3 | 42.5 | 84.0 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 13.5 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 82 | 35 | 53.4 | 36.9 | 83.4 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 14.2 |
| 2022-23 * | All Teams | 83 | 36 | 46.8 | 38.2 | 89.5 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 20.1 |
| 2022-23 * | PHX | 56 | 36 | 46.3 | 38.7 | 89.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 17.2 |
| 2022-23 * | BRK | 27 | 34 | 47.5 | 37.6 | 89.4 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 26.1 |
| 2023-24 | BRK | 82 | 35 | 43.6 | 37.2 | 81.4 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 19.6 |
| 2024-25 | NYK | 25 | 38 | 48.1 | 33.9 | 61.9 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 17.0 |
| Total | 499 | 33 | 48.0 | 37.2 | 84.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 14.4 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
