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<\/p>\nCHICAGO \u2014 It was just before the start of the third quarter in the Knicks\u2019 home opener when Ariel Hukporti was pulled to the side.<\/p>\n
The final pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, Hukporti had found himself starting for just the second time in his career when the helping hand of Mikal Bridges proceeded to go over tricks of the trade with the center in the pick-and-roll. Bridges was talking, dribbling and moving Hukporti around. It\u2019s as if the second half had already started. Hukporti was listening intently, hanging onto every word from his senior teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the first vet, when I came in, who took me under his wing right away,\u201d Hukporti said.<\/p>\n
If you know anything about Bridges, what took place at halftime that night is a common occurrence. The 29-year-old has taken every young Knicks player under his wing since his arrival last offseason. It\u2019s what Ryan Anderson did for him when Bridges was a rookie in Phoenix, and then later Chris Paul and Jae Crowder. Before that, it was Darrun Hilliard and JayVaughn Pinkston at Villanova.<\/p>\n
In the snap of a finger, Bridges, who signed a four-year, $150 million extension this offseason, has become all the players who helped him settle into the NBA. He has transitioned from a promising youngster seeking wisdom to a proven veteran providing it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the type of stuff that doesn\u2019t show up in the box score, but goes a long way in building a winning organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout the games, (my vets) just let me be me and gave me confidence,\u201d Bridges told The Athletic. \u201cI think it was just being a friend. I knew who Ryan was. Him being friends with me and giving me confidence and compliments was like, \u2018Oh, dang!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in Phoenix, we didn\u2019t have a lot of young guys. I didn\u2019t really have the opportunity to (be a vet). But then when I got to Brooklyn, I had the opportunity where I had a lot of young guys. For me, to be a good leader, I want to get close with everyone, get to know them and see what they\u2019re about. It makes it easier when I get on them or coach them because they know it\u2019s coming from love.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Mikal Bridges has been a key piece for the Knicks on and off the court this season in New York. (Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Bridges\u2019 first season in New York was bumpy on the court \u2014 like Ace Ventura behind the wheel levels of bumpy. He\u2019ll be the first to tell you that. However, his lack of comfort between the lines didn\u2019t stop him from being a mentor. He was succeeding every day there.<\/p>\n
Now, four games into Year 2 in Manhattan, Bridges has started the season as well as anyone could hope. He\u2019s shooting the ball at a high level from all over the 3-point line. Last season, his 3s only fell from the corner. He\u2019s defending with the physicality and smarts that made the Knicks trade a handful of draft picks for him, which wasn\u2019t always the case last season. He\u2019s traded in some of his mid-range shots for layups and free throws.<\/p>\n
All while doing that in a Mike Brown system that appears tailor-made for Bridges\u2019 style, he\u2019s still offering a helping hand and comforting voice. Only this time around, he\u2019s sharing the floor with the youngsters he helped prepare behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see that when he was a younger guy in the league that he had those vets, too,\u201d Tyler Kolek said. \u201cThey built a culture of brotherhood. You don\u2019t see that every day in the NBA nowadays. (Mikal) was so welcoming and teaching us the little things, and not just the basketball stuff. He shows us how to move, how to be a man and be an actual professional.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last summer, Pac\u00f4me Dadiet didn\u2019t just enter the sport\u2019s most prestigious club as a teenager, he moved to a new country an ocean away. The Frenchmen\u2019s head was spinning as his world was changing quickly. At the same time, Bridges was coming to the Knicks. His path to Madison Square Garden wasn\u2019t as long as Dadiet\u2019s. It was just over the Brooklyn Bridge. Yet, even while Bridges was getting acclimated to his new surroundings and heightened expectations, he made it a point to make sure that his new rookie teammate was getting equally as comfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live like two minutes from each other,\u201d Dadiet said. \u201cHe made it way easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike Hukporti and Kolek, Dadiet is still waiting his turn to show what he can do at this level. In the meantime, Bridges continues to tutor the young wing as if his time is as valuable as anyone else\u2019s. Dadiet asks Bridges questions from the bench. The two watch film together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see what he\u2019s doing on the court,\u201d Dadiet said.<\/p>\n
Bridges has a unique handshake with nearly everyone on the roster. He and Kolek, for example, do several front-and-back hand claps, skip in place and then salute.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just evolved over time,\u201d Kolek said. \u201cYou add one thing, then another and then something else happens to it. We both add to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bridges\u2019 role on the court for the Knicks is to bring everything together. He\u2019s the one who handles the ball most when Jalen Brunson is taking a break. He\u2019s the one who adds points between Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns piling them in. He provides extra hands for rebounds. He\u2019s often at the point of attack defensively. Behind the scenes, he plays a similar role. He played college ball with Brunson and Josh Hart. He\u2019s in with the young crowd. He\u2019s a connecter.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to ignore how at home Bridges now looks through the season\u2019s first two weeks. He\u2019s comfortable, confident. Bridges is doing everything he can to help the Knicks break through.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have a guy like Mikal on your roster is unbelievable,\u201d Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just because he\u2019s a great basketball player and brings a lot of versatility on both ends of the floor, but he\u2019s a fantastic, fantastic human being. You can tell his momma raised him right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 It was just before the start of the third quarter in the Knicks\u2019 home opener when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,361,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-262868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-new-york-knicks","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}