Mike Breen teasingly trolls Mikal Bridges’ minutes gripe

Mikal Bridges might claim he wants New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau to ease up on the starters, but he had no issue with his 41 minutes Wednesday night.

Bridges did something the NBA minutes police have been clamoring for throughout Thibodeau’s tenure in New York, and suggested the coach should depend on their bench players more. But with Jalen Brunson sidelined by an ankle sprain, Bridges followed up his request by playing 41 minutes Wednesday night while hitting a buzzer-beater three to lead the Knicks to a 114-113 overtime road victory against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The three was double bang worthy from Mike Breen, but the Knicks play-by-play voice made an even greater contribution to the night when he asked Bridges about his minutes while interviewing the game’s hero.

Mike Breen: “41 minutes tonight. You feeling OK?”

Mikal Bridges: “(Catching breath) I feel great”

Our heavy-breathing hero 🤣 pic.twitter.com/9aNYttwEhC

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 13, 2025

“41 minutes tonight. You feeling okay?” Breen asked.

“I feel great,” Bridges confirmed to garner a chuckle out of Breen.

Earlier in the day, Bridges caused a stir when he told reporters he spoke to Thibodeau about backing off on the starters a bit. To Bridges credit, he shrewdly crafted the complaint by saying the Knicks bench players deserve more opportunities, rather than making it seem like the starters can’t handle the workload. But when Thibodeau was asked about the request, he claimed to have never had a conversation about the matter with Bridges.

Thibodeau has long been accused of overworking players, to a point where he received blame when the Knicks starters broke down in the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers last season, suffering multiple injuries. Still, Bridges received some flak for taking his minutes complaint public, which is ironic considering he hasn’t missed one game since being drafted into the NBA in 2018.

But Wednesday was an awkward day for the Knicks as we saw Bridges and Thibodeau speaking through the media with conflicting reports. It was the type of day Knicks fans grew accustomed to seeing for nearly two decades. And it was the type of day Knicks fans haven’t had to endure throughout the Thibodeau-Leon Rose era in New York.

The difference, however, is in the outcome. Five, ten, fifteen years ago, this brief Bridges vs Thibodeau ordeal would have spiraled out of control. But Wednesday night, it concluded better than anyone could have scripted it, with an overtime buzzer-beater, a double bang, and Bridges confirming to Breen that everything feels great.