Getty Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks reacts.
Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges just brushed it off and laughed about the “Squidward” comment from his former teammate and New York Knicks‘ do-it-all forward Josh Hart.
“Josh says too much,” Bridges told reporters. “He’s a goof, man! He just plays around all the time and he just says a lot of crazy stuff.”
Hart’s roasting came on the heels of the Knicks’ 105-93 rout of the Nets on March 23 which kept their dominance over their across-the-bridge rivals.
“It’s like that SpongeBob meme when Squidward is looking out the window and he sees Spongebob and Patrick having fun,” Hart told reporters, per New York Daily News, after the win. “[Mikal] is Squidward.”
Josh Hart is hilarious lmaooo 😂
“It’s like that SpongeBob meme when Squidward is looking out the window and he sees SpongeBob and Patrick having fun. [Mikal] is Squidward.”
Contrasting Fates of Ex-Villanova Teammates
Hart was roasting his former college teammate for being in the wrong New York team, stuck in a depressing situation. The Nets have dropped their last six games to get closer to elimination. The worst part is, that they do not own their picks in June’s NBA Draft.
On the other hand, Bridges’ former college teammates — Hart, Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo — are leading the Knicks to their march to the playoffs with a chance to finish in the top 3 in the East.
“Obviously, it’s tough now because of the situation and how they’re playing, how we’re playing, so they got a little advantage right now,” Bridges said. “So they’ve been beaten us and they kind of, you know, had a little bragging rights, but time will tell. It takes a little bit of time. So, I just can’t wait for that to flip one day.”
The Knicks have won their last five meetings as the Nets have not been relevant since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving teamed up in Brooklyn which ended disappointingly.
Bridges was part of the package the Nets got in return for Durant from the Phoenix Suns.
Knicks-Nets Rivalry Rekindles Friendship
Bridges said the New York rivalry has rekindled their friendship.
“Honestly, we were close but the league happens to kind of get you all over the place, in different situations, but I think this whole situation, us being in New York kind of brought us back to each other and closer,” Bridges said. “I think Team USA helped as well. But them being with the Knicks and me being in Brooklyn just sparked our friendship even more a little bit.
That’s why his jokes are hilarious. And everybody talks about the Knicks and stuff. I’m just like, ‘Bro, y’all don’t know Josh.’
Jalen’s not saying anything. It’s just Josh. That’s who he is. He’s gonna say jokes like that. He knows he’s gonna get everyone riled up.”
The chances of a reunion are slim to none as the Nets value Bridges deeply. They have rejected great offers from multiple teams with the latest coming from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline.
“The Rockets called the Nets on Mikal Bridges discussing a concept around Jalen Green and multiple 1sts, that was not accepted,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on March 25.
.@ShamsCharania on Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün:
“The #Rockets called the Nets on Mikal Bridges discussing a concept around Jalen Green and multiple 1sts, that was not accepted…
It’s a great problem for the #Rockets to have, you have 2 burgeoning stars with Şengün, with…
Bridges’ reuniting with his college teammates is a pipe dream as the Knicks and Nets have not swung a trade in over four decades. Their last trade was in 1983 when the Knicks traded a 1984 second-round draft pick, which turned out to be Tom Sluby, for Len Elmore, per basketball reference.