If and when Miles Bridges signs his next contract, he’ll be required to serve a 10-game suspension before he suits up again, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
The suspension is the result of a domestic violence incident that occurred in June 2022. Bridges, who was on track to be one of the top free agents in the class of ’22, was arrested and charged with felony domestic abuse just days before his rookie contract expired. He was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children.
Bridges eventually worked out a plea deal with prosecutors in Los Angeles County in the fall, agreeing to plead no contest to one charge of felony domestic violence while two child abuse counts were dismissed. The 25-year-old avoided jail time by accepting three years of probation. He was ordered to attend a year’s worth of domestic violence counseling sessions and parenting classes in addition to completing 100 hours of community service.
The NBA conducted its own investigation into the incident, reviewing “all available matters and interviewing numerous third-party witnesses, as well as the parties involved,” the league said in today’s statement. NBA investigators also consulted with a group of domestic violence experts as part of the process.
Having concluded its probe, the league technically classifies its penalty for Bridges as a 30-game suspension. However, the NBA will consider the forward to have already served 20 of those games, since he remained unsigned for the entire 2022/23 season due to his legal situation. Typically, players can’t begin serving suspensions until they’re under contract.
Bridges received a qualifying offer from the Hornets last summer, making him a restricted free agent, and he’ll be restricted again this offseason if Charlotte reissues that QO (which was worth roughly $7.9MM).
A report in December suggested the Hornets and Bridges were making some progress in negotiations on a new contract, but the team issued a statement in January denying that claim. President of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak has since spoken multiple times about waiting for the NBA to conclude its investigation before taking any next steps.
Is he still a RFA
The second to last paragraph states that if the Hornets offer him a QO this year, he’ll be a RFA.
That’s it? Just 10 games? Ray Rice was blackballed by the NFL for a similar offense. Miles needs to show he can control his emotions before being allowed to come back. I think everyone deserves a second chance but it would be too soon to sign him this off-season. He should have a chance to realize what he almost lost before he gets everything back.
I can’t totally disagree but at the same time he missed a year already which was a defacto suspension. So where is the line? And how can you ever realistically quantify it? Just have to make a decision and move forward. I’m sure there are guys who didn’t get caught who have done much, much worse. Just have to trust in karma.
Yeah… OJ Mayo got 2 years…
He admitted guilt…
He should get 3 years at least…
This is silvers NBA not yours or anybody to say otherwise. So you cannot say anything
And who’s going to stop me, bro?
Not me bro im just saying. I agree it’s all garbage
Might as well deactivated comments then since Aristotle here says our opinions are irrelevant
All opinions are irrelevant though.
It’s not 10 games, as was mentioned above. Granted, that bit probably should’ve been included near the top rather than toward the end.
That said, even 30 games is still too light of a punishment imo. Was hoping to see him suspended for at least half of the upcoming season, or roughly 70 games in total, if not longer. Not that I ever expected the NBA to have the balls to do that.
The decision to mention the 30-game aspect when I did was deliberate, since my view is that that’s NBA spin to make the punishment sound better. Deciding that he served 20 games last season is entirely arbitrary. For all intents and purposes, it’s a 10-game suspension.
This suspension is way too light. He should’ve been given the full 30 games. He didn’t have a contract last year because of what he did, but that doesn’t mean he should get a lighter punishment once he signs. Lay the hammer down.
Right or wrong, it’s sad for everyone involved. Good people do bad things, bad people do good things. Just wishing his family the best. Life is precious and short.
Thank you the only comment on forgiveness n repentance as a humans way forward
Best comment, double stars for coming from this guy
Gross. I sure as s**t don’t want my Knicks signing him.
I’m hoping the Hornets don’t re-sign him either, otherwise I’m going to have to find a new basketball team.
You were okay with Isaiah Thomas and Derrick rose though?
In a lot of ways the NBA has got soft on punishment…
A fart in the clouds has more clout than the NBA…
Silver needs to realise harsher penalties are needed before the NBA becomes a WWE style circus…
NBA is WWE
The WWE would have future endeavored his ass or least suspended him for while.
Trolls ……
I would move away from Bridges ….
I really hope this man gets to play basketball again and has success. Great talent to watch.
He’s been suspended for 30 games without pay, not 10.
Not really though.
There was no contract for 20 of them…
Bridges should be banned from the NBA, Silver kisses these players asses. Enough is enough
This is a soft move. He beat the holy hell out of that woman, in front of her child and in public. He shouldn’t get the opportunity to represent the sport. At least not in the NBA.
He accepted full guilt as well…
Disgustingly soft move from the NBA…
He essentially was suspended for a season. Not sure what’s “soft”, they’re adding some more unpaid games. If you’re going to call anyone “soft” it’s the legal system.
Capitalism ruined the legal system long ago…
The rich can just pay to have their record clean of any court rullings… Which is what happened in this case…
OJ Mayo got 2 years from the NBA for a minor offence in comparison…
Bridges deserves at least 3…
Adam Silver is the softest commissioner in sports. He’s never met a camera he didn’t like when it’s something political that everyone wants or something bad an owner or fan has done. But he’s radio silent when the players do something bad. And he hands out slaps on the wrist for serious offenses. Players are walking all over him.
The NBA has a bad accountability problem…
Coaches have to be friends of the players to keep their jobs…
And Silver hasn’t updated the fines and penalties to go with the rise in profits… So any fine just looks like pocket change…
The lack of any real penalty for this crime is a new level of soft from Silver…
Silver is a wimp, but this suspension is in line with the general parameters in sports, including recent NFL suspensions.
Almost certainly, a smaller suspension this year was part of an understanding among Bridges, the league and CHA reached after the incident. He was a RFA with an outstanding Q/O when charges were first made. At that point, it was in everyone’s interest that the offer stand but that he not accept it before the deadline.
If he had been under active contract (which he could have been), and was suspended indefinitely last summer, with the suspension only now being lifted after the first 10 games of this coming year, would it still be considered light? If so, then consider it light. Otherwise, it’s not.
If this had been Draymond, Silver would have put together a firing squad.