The New York Knicks seemed to be experiencing a turnaround, highlighted by five-straight wins going into Sunday night's game and Mikal Bridges' postgame confessional in Toronto. Following a 30-point performance against the Raptors, the two-way wing said he had been "uncoachable" recently and cited a potential sense of entitlement as a reason why. Josh Hart tweeted in support of Bridges' comments, calling it the "realest and most impressive post game interview you will ever see." Before Sunday's game against the Lakers, Mike Brown said he had no idea Bridges had said anything at all.
Brown says he had no idea Bridges took blame for Knicks' struggles
Ahead of the Knicks' Sunday tilt against the Los Angeles Lakers, Brown was asked if Bridges' comments after the team's win in Toronto represented an inflection point in the locker room. The coach responded almost incredulously to hearing that Bridges had described himself as "uncoachable," saying not only that he disagreed with the notion but that he had no idea that Bridges had made any such comments.
"He said he’s being uncoachable? I try not to, no offense to any of you guys, because I try not to read your guys’ stuff ... try not to read it. But Mikal said he’s not coachable? I mean, you would have to talk to him about that. I can only go off of my experience, Mikal’s always been coachable to me," the coach said."
Brown continued on to praise Bridges as a person off of the court, as well as offer vague commentary on the actual comments the wing made up north.
"He’s a great human being, I said this earlier: his mama did a great job raising him, you know? But if he feels that way, you never know what’s going on in somebody’s mind, if he feels that way there are reasons behind it," Brown told reporters on Sunday evening.
While it makes sense that the coach stays away from coverage of his team as a method of staying grounded throughout long seasons, Bridges comments didn't only appear in print. The wing made them on television in a postgame interview on MSG Networks, the team's official station.
With Hart sharing his support on social media, it's hard to imagine that absolutely nobody mentioned anything about what Bridges said in the four days between New York's games against Toronto and Los Angeles.
However, one thing was made quite clear by Brown ahead of Sunday's game. The coach said he hopes the Knicks' slump is fully behind them, and joked that he hopes they never do it again.