In the midst of the Charlotte Hornets’ 132-103 play-in game loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, frustration seemed to get the best of Miles Bridges.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Bridges argued a goaltending call after he believed he cleanly blocked a Deandre Hunter layup. (Hunter’s shot, however, was already on the way down after hitting the glass.) Bridges was hot enough to immediately get hit with a technical foul and, when he continued arguing, he was quickly hit with a second.
The story, however, doesn’t end there. He appeared to keep arguing before being redirected to the back by various Hornets players and coaches. On his way to the back, he seemed to react to a fan mocking him and, in response, threw his mouthpiece into the crowd where it appeared to hit a young Hawks fan in the face.
Miles Bridges was ejected after arguing this goaltend call. pic.twitter.com/ijvc7SxlNF
— ESPN (@espn) April 14, 2022
Bridges certainly will be fined for this in some way. On top of the ejection, throwing any object into the crowd is a very much not going to go unpunished by the NBA. Even understanding Bridges’ frustration by his team’s performance in the game and Charlotte’s season coming to an end, this was not an appropriate reaction in any way.
Bridges has already taken to social media to apologize for the incident, tweeting that his reaction “unacceptable” and that he’d like to get in contact with the fan.
Somebody get me in contact with the young lady. That’s unacceptable. https://t.co/MlLZjMgcBF
— Miles Bridges (@MilesBridges) April 14, 2022
It’s good to see him take ownership of what he did, but that won’t stop the league from surely handing down a fine in the coming days.