“Load management” or “fatigue management” in good French. A phrase that emerged a few years ago when Gregg Popovich was saving his aging stars, and it’s become a national cause for the NBA fighting against top player layoffs. As proof, the next collective agreement will impose a minimum of 65 games played to be eligible for individual trophies and selections in the All-NBA Teams.
He’s not actually a star yet, nor an All-Star, but Mikal Bridges proves since his arrival in the NBA that you can play all 82 games and all back-to-back without fail. This season, the new Nets winger should even join the closed club of players who have finished a season with more than 82 games played! It’s rare, but it happens when a player is transferred during the season, and they are currently 41 in NBA history to have played 83 or more games in a season. In 1968/69, Walter Bellamy had even played 88 matches, between the Pistons and the Knicks, and the last player to reach 83 matches was none other than Josh Smith, in 2015.
“It’s just fun” reacts Mikal Bridges who has never missed a game in his entire career. “I’m going to play every game, and I’m going to have one more… But I’ve already played in the playoffs, and I’ve been playing more than 82 games a year for two years. But it’s still a nice little story. »
Mikal Bridges won two NCAA titles without missing a single game
Actually, the last time Mikal Bridges missed a game was in high schoolat Great Valley High School in Pennsylvania. “In high school, I could not participate in a match because I was sick”, he remembers. “The next day, I was the odd one out. All my teammates were talking about the game when I didn’t really know what happened. It wasn’t fun. But luckily I was sick, so I had an excuse.
Since then, he has played 116 games in a row with Villanova with two NCAA titles, but also 387 games out of 387 in the NBA, with a final in 2021 under the colors of the Suns. But what is his secret, when the list of players who play the 82 matches fits on the fingers of one hand?
“I always feel privileged” he replies to The Athletic. “I can be injured, but I heal a little faster. Everyone’s body is a little different, and my body can get hurt, and the next day it’s deflated. What also helps is that every time I got injured, it was in the preseason or the offseason, or in high school…”
Iron Man of the NBA with his 387 games in a row, Mikal Bridges has become a player apart in the NBA by his resistance and his regularity. But a year ago, in March 2022, he almost missed a game. He had the flu but had refused to tell his coach, and he had treated himself in his corner.
That night, against the Kings, he had even played 50 minutes! “I wasn’t going to tell him I was sick, but the staff knew I wasn’t feeling well” he says elsewhere. “But I didn’t want to tell my coach that I couldn’t do it because I was sick. I played like that, and we won. »
AC Green’s record? “Untouchable”
For Sean Marks, who got him in exchange for Kevin Durant, Mikal Bridges is a player ” unique in the current period“, and the GM of the Nets finds that” refreshing“. But for his coach, Jacque Vaughn, he must also be protected from himself. Especially when the team is about to qualify for the playoffs.
“There’s a balance to be found: I want the guy to play, but I’m also going to protect him at this time of year from injuries that you can drag yourself…”, explains Jacque Vaughn. What exactly does the interested party think?
“There are different aspects…” concedes Mikal Bridges. “There are 82 matches… People are coming back from injuries, we play a lot, we travel… I am aware of the health aspect. I sometimes think about the fact that we should rest, but I don’t believe it. I feel like it makes more sense when it’s for an injury because you’re not going to force someone to play injured. Coming out of an injury, you have to calm down. But not if the guy is healthy.
With such resilience and mentality, does he imagine himself approaching or even beating AC Green’s record? The former interior of the Lakers had played 1,192 games in a row, between 1986 and 2001! “I don’t think I’ll get that far” concludes Mikal Bridges. “It’s a lot of games. It is untouchable”.
This is also what was said about Kareem-Abdul Jabbar’s points record…
| Mikal Bridges | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 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 | 78 | 36 | 47.8 | 40.4 | 90.3 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 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 | 22 | 35 | 50.5 | 43.4 | 91.1 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 27.5 |
| Total | 387 | 32 | 49.9 | 38.2 | 85.8 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 13.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
