Bridges continues consecutive games played streak following 23-second appearance
Mikal Bridges’ streak of consecutive games played reached 638 during Sunday’s season finale against the Charlotte Hornets, after the New York Knicks forward participated for just 23 seconds before exiting the contest.
Bridges was the sole Knicks starter to take the court in this game, as the Eastern Conference’s third seed had already been secured earlier in the week. Knicks coach Mike Brown indicated prior to the game that he would permit the guard to play only long enough to maintain the streak, and reserve Jordan Clarkson was already approaching the scorer’s table to substitute for him even before the opening tip-off.
Bridges committed a foul to halt play while the Knicks were on defense during the game’s initial possession.
Bridges’ streak ranks as the eighth longest in NBA history, nearly 50 games shy of former New York Knick Harry Gallatin. The all-time record is held by A.C. Green, whose streak of 1,192 games spanned 15 seasons.
“It’s remarkable because load management is a genuine concept,” Brown stated before the game. “And that’s something that is considered by everyone, not just the medical performance team but also by coaches, individual players, agents, family members, and people are encouraged to take time off for various reasons. So for a player like that to achieve the number he has in consecutive games played is significant.”
The NBA Cup final that the Knicks secured does not factor into the statistics; otherwise, Bridges would have been recognized for playing 83 games in an 82-game season for the second time in four years. He participated in 56 games with Phoenix in 2022-23 before being traded to Brooklyn in exchange for Kevin Durant, then played in all of the Nets’ last 27 games.
He prolonged the streak at the conclusion of that season by playing four seconds in the regular-season finale and appeared for six seconds in the final game of the 2024-25 season.
On the last day of the regular season, there were 18 players who had participated in every game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
