Getty Mikal Bridges #1 of the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges’ three-point celebration is making waves around the league. It makes sense because Bridges is doing the celebration quite often, shooting the lights out from beyond the arc. Since being traded to the Nets from the Phoenix Suns, he is shooting 42.3 percent from three-point land.
With Bridges’ celebration becoming so popular around the NBA, Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns decided to try it in their loss to the Suns on March 29. However, instead of using three fingers, Towns used four. When Bridges saw his celebration, he offered advice to the Timberwolves’ big man.
“Too many fingers my boy,” Bridges tweeted on March 30.
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Cam Johnson Comes up Big in Nets Win
Bridges’ hot streak since joining the Nets continued in their matchup against the Houston Rockets on March 29. He shot 4-6 from beyond the arc in a 27-point outing. It is the fourth game in a row that the former Villanova Wildcat has scored 27 points or more. But many of Bridges’ scoring outbursts have gone to waste, as the Nets have just two wins in their last eight games.
But in a must-win game against the Rockets, Bridges got some help from a familiar face. Cam Johnson, who also came over from Phoenix at the trade deadline, led the Nets with 31 points in a come-from-behind win. After the game, Johnson told reporters that hitting shots down the stretch was the key to Brooklyn’s victory.
“You know, I think we made shots,” Johnson said after the win. “It gave us a little bit of steam, a little bit of momentum. I think early on, you know, we got so many good looks, but we just weren’t hitting them.”
While he has not put up the same numbers as Bridges, Johnson has given the Nets a boost since his arrival. He is averaging 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, playing both sides of the floor.
But the Nets face a looming decision with Johnson as he will be a restricted free agent this summer where he can seek a contract from rival teams, and the Nets will have to decide whether to match his offer sheet or let Johnson walk. Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, he could command around $20 million in free agency.
“His tight relationship with Bridges, positional value, and status as part of the Durant deal make [Johnson] hard to let escape. A 6-foot-8 wing who can shoot 40 percent from deep with solid defense will command top dollar,” Lewis writes.
“Sources say his floor is $18 million annually and could easily top $20 million. And with a new leaguewide TV deal kicking in after 2024-25, it’ll make the end of Johnson’s contract a smaller cut of whatever the salary cap becomes.”
Kevin Durant Talks Legacy Following Nets Trade
It has been nearly two months since the Nets shocked the world and traded Kevin Durant to the Suns. After winning two titles with the Golden State Warriors, Durant came to Brooklyn, looking to add to his legacy and bring the Nets franchise their first-ever NBA title. But that was in 2019, and nearly four years after leaving the Warriors, Durant says his perspective on his legacy has changed completely.
“I don’t care about legacy. I used to. I used to want to carve out a lane or space in this game for myself that people can remember, but it’s become too much of a thing now. It just becomes too much of a focus on other people. What’s he done, what’s he done? Comparisons. Before, when we weren’t doing all this debating, I cared about it … I’m about to be in the same breath as these top guys. It was big,” Durant said in an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic.
“Nowadays, I truly, truly don’t care. I truly just want to go out there and produce, be the best that I could be, go home, hang with my family, that’s it.”