New York Knicks star Mikal Bridges slammed Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton’s recent social media post highlighting the gold medal he won with Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Haliburton was named as one of the points guards for the United States’ roster alongside Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and Boston Celtics reigning NBA champions Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Despite the latter two playing interchangeably at both guard spots, Haliburton did not find ample playing time behind the first-time Olympic participant Curry in the 2024 games, which caused controversy in NBA circles. Haliburton is coming off of a 2023-24 NBA season where he led the league in assists with 10.9 dimes per game, spearheaded his Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team.
Despite his acclaimed body of work, the Wisconsin native did not play in three of Team USA’s matchups in tournament play and made light of his light usage in head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation following their triumph over France, which Bridges made sure to comically reply to on social media.
Knicks’ Mikal Bridges didn’t like Tyrese Haliburton’s participation trophy-esque post
Per New York Basketball on X, Haliburton went on X and posted a picture holding his gold medal with the caption: When you ain’t do nun on the group project and still get an A,” to which Bridges replied with a sharp caption saying “I hate this,” followed by several emojis (h/t Geoff Magliocchetti of New York Knicks on SI):
Does Bridges have a real gripe with Haliburton over the gold medal post?
Bridges is known to be a workhorse, having garnered the reputation as the NBA’s Iron Man by playing all 82 games (and 83 in 2022-23) in all but one of his six seasons in the league so far. While Haliburton’s inactivity in Team USA’s rotation was more about coach Kerr’s discretion and schematics than it was about the standout floor general’s play or willingness to see the court, Bridges’ humorous reply may have also fed into the brewing rivalry between his Knicks and Haliburton’s Pacers.
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Bridges was not selected to play for the United States in Paris after representing the country in 2019 on the select team, in 2023 at the FIBA World Cup, and in 2024 as part of the Men’s National Team player pool. It may be that he desired one of the final roster spots on the Olympic team this time around. Additionally, animosity between the Knicks’ fanbase and Haliburton and his Pacers squad has ruminated dating back to their heated Eastern Conference Semifinals battle last spring, so there could be elements of that budding rivalry within the underlying fabric of his reply.
Nevertheless, Bridges just got traded to the Knicks and has been reunited with his Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. He’s in a position to win a championship next season and play meaningful basketball once more. The likelihood that this was much more than a lighthearted response is low.
