Miles Bridges #

Introduction #

Miles Bridges (born March 21, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who rose from McDonald’s All-American prep stardom to a first-round NBA draft pick and one of the Charlotte Hornets’ brightest young stars. Bridges was selected 12th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2018 NBA draft and traded to the Charlotte Hornets on draft night, where he led the team in scoring at 20.2 points per game and in rebounding in 2021-22 and appeared headed for a contract worth more than $100 million as a restricted free agent. That trajectory collapsed in June 2022, when he was arrested in Los Angeles on felony domestic violence charges and later pleaded no contest — a fall that cost him the entire 2022-23 season and a 30-game NBA suspension.

Background Information #

Born in Flint, Michigan, Bridges attended Flint Southwestern Academy before finishing high school at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, where he was named a McDonald’s All-American in 2016. He played two seasons at Michigan State, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2017, first-team All-Big Ten recognition in 2018, and consensus second-team All-American status before declaring for the NBA draft.

Selected with the 12th overall pick in 2018 and dealt to Charlotte on draft night, Bridges signed a four-year rookie contract worth $16.3 million and steadily improved. In 2021-22 he posted a career-high 35 points and finished the year leading the Hornets in scoring and rebounding, with an at-times electric chemistry with point guard LaMelo Ball. Shortly after that season, he was ejected during a play-in tournament loss and fined $50,000 for throwing his mouthpiece at a fan.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

On June 29, 2022 — just days before the start of NBA free agency — Bridges was arrested by authorities in Los Angeles following an alleged assault of his former girlfriend, the mother of his two children, in front of them. He was released after posting bond. According to a hospital report posted to Instagram by the woman, she was listed as an “adult victim of abuse by male partner,” with injuries including assault by strangulation, a brain concussion, a closed fracture of her nasal bone, bruised ribs, and a neck muscle strain.

On July 19, 2022, Bridges was formally charged with one felony count of causing harm to a parent of a child and two felony counts of child abuse; he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment the following day. On November 3, 2022, he pleaded no contest to the felony charge of injuring a child’s parent and was sentenced to three years of probation with no jail time; the other two charges were dropped. The plea required 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 52 weeks of parenting classes, 100 hours of community service, weekly narcotics testing, surrender of his weapons, fines, and a 10-year protective order keeping him 100 yards away from and without contact with the woman; the two maintained custody of their children, with exchanges made through a neutral third party.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The NBA opened its own investigation and, on April 14, 2023, suspended Bridges for 30 games without pay. Because he had sat out all 82 games of the 2022-23 season, the league counted 20 of those games as already served, with the remaining 10 to be served at the start of the 2023-24 season. The suspension devastated his earning power: a restricted free agent who had appeared headed for a deal worth more than $100 million instead signed a one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer in July 2023.

The controversy did not end with his sentencing. In October 2023, a criminal summons was issued for an alleged violation of the protective order, along with charges of child abuse and injury to personal property; he allegedly threatened his former girlfriend and damaged her car while their children were in it, throwing pool balls at the car and smashing the windshield, and was accused of telling her he would withhold child support if she reported the incident to police. After an arrest warrant was issued for a separate alleged violation, Bridges turned himself in on October 13, 2023, and was released on a $1,000 bond; court documents said he “unlawfully” and “knowingly” violated the order and “continually contacted the victim.” His pending court date was rescheduled for February 20, 2024, and the NBA confirmed it would allow him to play in the meantime.

Current Status #

Bridges returned on November 17, 2023, for an NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Milwaukee Bucks, after sitting out the previous season and completing his 10-game suspension. The Hornets said: “We are comfortable with Miles returning to play based on our current understanding of the facts of the recent allegations and remain in contact with the NBA as that matter proceeds through the court process.” He scored 17 points in his return and hit a game-winning three-pointer in an overtime win over the Celtics three days later.

Bridges went on to re-establish himself statistically, scoring 41 and 45 points in consecutive games in February 2024 and re-signing with the Hornets on a three-year, $75 million contract in July 2024, before a career-high 46-point game in March 2025. In July 2026, after eight seasons in Charlotte, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The 2022 arrest and conviction arrived at the worst possible moment of Bridges’ career. Entering the summer of 2022 he was considered one of the Hornets’ best players and appeared headed for a contract worth more than $100 million; instead he missed the entire 2022-23 season, lost that season’s salary while the league counted 20 of his 30 suspension games as time served, and began the 2023-24 campaign burdened by a 10-game ban and a reduced one-year offer. The Hornets went 3-7 in his absence to start that season, underscoring how much they had missed him.

His personal life was permanently altered by the case. Bridges and the mother of his children were bound by a 10-year protective order, and less than a year after his sentencing he was back before a judge over alleged violations of that order, accused of threatening her and damaging her car. His basketball career did recover — he earned a $75 million contract and a trade to the Suns — but his name remains most widely associated with one of the NBA’s prominent domestic violence cases.