Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges was denied entry to Canada ahead of the team's game against the Toronto Raptors on Monday night and will not play. The team's attempts to reverse the decision were unsuccessful, and Bridges was officially ruled out shortly before tip-off.
Bridges' status for the game first came into question on Sunday when he sent, and then quickly deleted, a tweet in which he wrote, "Got denied in the 6."
The Canadian government's exact reason for denying Bridges' entry is unclear, though it likely stems from his various legal issues. In June of 2022, Bridges was charged with multiple felony counts of domestic violence, and later pled no contest to the felony charge of injuring a child's parent. The other two charges were dropped.
As part of the agreement, Bridges avoided jail time, but was given three years of probation and ordered to do 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling, 52 weeks of parenting classes and 100 hours of community service, as well as undergo weekly narcotics testing. Furthermore, he was barred from owning firearms and ordered to have no contact with the victim.
In April, the NBA suspended Bridges for 30 games, with 20 games considered served after Bridges missed the entire 2022-23 season as an unsigned free agent. He served the remaining 10 games at the beginning of this season after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Hornets in July.
Just before the season began, Bridges faced further allegations, including multiple violations of the protective order. He turned himself in on Oct. 13 and was released on bond regarding a warrant from January that had previously not been served. Separately, he was charged with child abuse and injury to personal property relating to an incident in which he is accused of threatening his former girlfriend and throwing pool balls at her car while their children were inside. He was initially scheduled to appear in court for that case on Nov. 13, but that has been rescheduled for Feb. 20.
In November, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during an appearance on Toronto's SportsNet 590 The Fan that the league is comfortable with Bridges playing. Here are his comments in full:
"From my standpoint, I believe we have been consistent, in that we're applying the same principles to every case. No fact pattern is exactly alike, and I think everybody is entitled to due process and a fair system, regardless of whether they're in a union or not. In this case, these players are represented by a strong union, and that's a collectively bargained process. But unless you're intimately into the facts of each case, you have to understand that the result is based on an investigation and a very deep understanding -- at least the best we're in a position to do so -- to understand exactly what happened. In terms of new allegations, put yourself in that players' shoes, or anybody in which there's an allegation. Everybody's entitled to due process and everybody's entitled to a fair hearing. To the extent there's other things that we're looking at, that's an independent investigation and until there are findings there, it would be unfair to punish a player, or anyone, under those circumstances. We believe in the rule of law in this league, and we believe in due process.
"Yes, in deciding the appropriate discipline, contrition and the players' reaction to the incident is of course important. But once again, I don't want to pre-judge any other allegations that have been made against him. That's why there are investigations, that's why there is a process in place."
Bridges has played in 14 games for the Hornets this season and is averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds.
