Mikal Bridges

Bridges won the NCAA championship along with his teammates for the school for the first time since 1985.

He averaged 6.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game as a freshman.

"He came in as a high school scoring phenom like they all do, so I'm really proud of how he has opened up his game defensively," coach Jay Wright said.

Mikal Bridges (born August 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Coming out of high school, he was ranked by ESPNU as the 82nd best player nationally, and committed to Villanova in June 2013.

Bridges redshirted his freshman season and assisted in scouting players.

In his first year with Villanova, he appeared in all 40 games for the Wildcats.

He said he had to do a lot of weightlifting and change his three-point shot.

He played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats, winning national championships in 2016 and 2018.

He had a key role coming off the bench in the 2016 NCAA tournament, scoring 11 points in a Final Four rout of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Coming into the 2016–17 season, Bridges was slated to be the team's sixth man but started every game after Phil Booth went down with a knee injury in November.

As a sophomore, Joe Juliano of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "If there is such a thing as a five-tool player in college basketball, Mikal Bridges is the model."

He became well-regarded as a lanky forward who could score and play excellent defense and often guarded the opposing team's best player.

In the NCAA Tournament, he scored 13 points to help Villanova to a first round victory over Mount St. Mary's.

Bridges averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while making 54 percent of his field goal attempts and 39 percent of three point tries.

He improved his scoring as the season progressed, averaging 12.3 points in his last 12 games of the regular season.

Along with Creighton's Khyri Thomas and teammate Josh Hart, Bridges was one of three Big East defensive player of the year honorees, being third in the conference in steals with 1.9 per game.

He was named to the 2017–18 preseason All-Big East second team.

Bridges hit all six 3-point tries in a 24-point performance against Lafayette on November 17.

On December 4, he scored a career-high 28 points to go with six rebounds and two blocks in an 88–72 victory over Gonzaga.

Bridges was selected with the tenth overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 NBA draft before being traded to the Phoenix Suns on draft night, where he was a part of the team that reached the 2021 NBA Finals.

Nicknamed “the Warden”, Bridges holds the active record for the most consecutive games played, having not missed a game in his NBA career since being drafted.

Bridges is the son of Jack Bridges and Tyneeha Rivers, who gave birth to him at the age of 19 and raised him as a single mother.

He grew up in Overbrook, Philadelphia, and nearby neighborhoods.

He moved to Malvern, Pennsylvania in middle school.

His second cousin is former La Salle player Tyrone Garland.

Bridges attended Great Valley High School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, where he was coached by Jim Nolan.

He began to get serious about basketball in his sophomore year when he had a growth spurt to reach 6–6.

As a junior, he averaged 20 points and eight rebounds per game.

During his senior season, he was named First Team All-Class AAAA.

He posted averages of 18.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 1.6 steals per game as a senior.

Bridges was named to the Philadelphia Inquirer's All-Southeastern Pa., boys basketball first team as a senior.

In his career, he had 1,340 points and 511 rebounds.

Bridges scored 23 points in an overtime win against Seton Hall on March 2, 2018.

At the conclusion of the regular season, he joined Jalen Brunson on the All-Big East first team.

He was named MVP of the Big East tournament after scoring 28 points in the title game, a 76–66 overtime win over Providence.

As a junior Bridges averaged 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 51 percent shooting, including 43.5 percent on 3-pointers.

He received the Julius Erving Award for best small forward.

On April 10, 2018, Bridges announced his intention to forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2018 NBA draft, where he was the 10th selection in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers.

He was later traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for the 16th pick, Zhaire Smith, and an unprotected 2021 first-round pick.