NBA FINALS: KNICKS VS. SPURS

June 12, 2026

Mikal Bridges

New York Knicks

Practice Day

Q. When you guys have a night like the other night where it feels like a crazy celebration, how do you put that 24 hours behind you and realize the job's not done?

MIKAL BRIDGES: Yeah, I think it's pretty easy for us. I think that's probably the most I can say. I think it's pretty easy for us.

Maybe the fans and media stuff may be a little bit more, can't control it right now. But as a player, we know our job's not finished.

Yeah, we're ready.

Q. You're one win away from a title with Jalen and Josh, same in Villanova where you won national championships. Do you see any similarities between the run, the chemistry it takes? Is it surreal to be able to win it with those guys at the highest level?

MIKAL BRIDGES: Yeah, I think being in college, you know, Coach Wright did a great job of teaching us how to win and what it takes. I think that's what we can take from it, is that just knowing how hard it is to get here and how hard it is to win.

I think that's helped us.

For us being teammates, obviously it's really cool to be in this moment. But we still got a job to do. We're not there yet.

Q. Everybody is talking about a 0-0 mentality right now. 0-0 implies a start. With your background, do you lean more into that 0-0 mentality or do you treat this like an NCAA win-or-go-home game to fight that killer instinct?

MIKAL BRIDGES: I think it's both. 0-0, knowing you don't get complacent. If you feel like you're up in the series, you don't want to get that complacency.

Also, yeah, you could go to the NCAA where it's win or lose or something, that's how you got to feel. You got to go out there. I feel like that's every single night. Especially this night.

I think it's still 0-0 no matter what.

Q. At one point over the last couple years you were talking about adjustments, getting here, getting acclimated. You mentioned even with Jalen, being used to him at Villanova playing a certain way, adjusting to him now. Can you expand a little bit about what that process was like, the difference between Villanova Jalen and New York Jalen?

MIKAL BRIDGES: Yeah, just being in college every single day, me and Jalen were together for three years, our system and all that stuff, obviously is different systems and different teams in the league.

But yeah, coming to New York, his game has grown. Yeah, it's just a little bit different. I think it's a little bit different. I think his scoring went up. Just kind of got to feel that a little bit off the ball.

It's been great. I think his progression as a scorer and as a playmaker has just been great for us. Not just me, but everybody. It's been great to see. It keeps the defense honest.

I don't know what else to say. I think he always tries to make the right read every single time. I got a lot of confidence in him.

The thing I know about Jalen, which always felt like in college as well, sometimes he might feel like, because how talented he is, his right read might be him taking a shot when it's contested. I came over the years knowing him, being around him, where I think it's a pretty good decision for him as well and for the team because he's that talented.

I think he's grown as a player. I'm just happy to be here.

Q. How long did it take for you to get adjusted to getting cheers on the road? What it's like to be in a game in what is supposed to be hostile territory and have the Knicks fans being so supportive?

MIKAL BRIDGES: Yeah, it's real cool, man, to be around for that. It just shows how much the fan base travels and cares about the team, cares about winning. I feel like I'm forever grateful to have them on our side because, like you said, I don't think that's anywhere. I don't think any team in the league does that. There are a lot of great franchises, great fan bases, as well.

Very grateful to be in this position, in this organization, with these fans.