Mikal Bridges might not seem like the most flashy player on the Phoenix Suns right now. His bright yellow kicks are pretty clean, but it’s his teammates Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker that pull up to the Footprint Center from time to time dressed like characters from The Matrix.
13 wins in a row. Also cool. https://t.co/uNZuwgd1jO pic.twitter.com/HRhhpditD4
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) November 23, 2021
Instead, Bridges typically lets his talent do the talking, and this year his numbers are working like a megaphone. Averaging 13.2 points per game while putting up .542/.413/.800 shooting splits, Bridges resembles one of the NBA’s most efficient scorers and remains a highly impactful defender.
With the Suns boasting a 14-3 record, neither Bridges nor his team need him to come to their defense, at least from a vocal standpoint. But all the while, Bridges still did so earlier this afternoon, speaking on The Old Man & the Three with JJ Reddick and Tommy Alter.
When asked about the Suns and how the media keeps overlooking them as contenders this year, Bridges responded:
"“ESPN, FOX Sports, whoever, NBA TV, are they the ones lacing up? Are they playing against us? Nah, then I don’t give a damn what they think. If they wanna come on that court and play against us, then they would more than welcome to step on that court with us. But I don’t give a damn what people say about me, or what I deserve, or what ranking I should be. That shit don’t mean nothing.”"
Leading up to Bridges’s response, Reddick mentioned that he spent several hours at ESPN earlier that day and struggled to recall hearing any mentioning of the Suns, even with the team currently riding a 13-game win streak. Even last year, after Phoenix ran all the way to the NBA Finals, the public still neglected to give them their flowers, making hollow excuses for the team’s success based around injuries and luck.
But as much as we all want to see Bridges cross up Skip Bayless on the court, his latter words carry more weight. With his comments, he illustrated the perfect mentality for the Suns to move forward with—even amidst all this disrespect.
At the end of the day, winning basketball matters above all else, rather than any phoney rankings or odds set by those off the court. At every turn last year, people expected the Suns to fall apart, and even though they fell two games short of their ultimate goal, the Valley Boys persisted through that negativity with an unrivaled concentration on winning.
Their win streak and Bridges’s words show that the team’s focus has not cracked or fogged up in any way from last year, setting themselves up for another successful campaign. Dark horse teams win titles all the time, and the Suns have already bolted out of the gate, running straight at the Larry O’Brien without looking back.