Steve Clifford says Miles Bridges will immediately step back into a “significant role” for the Charlotte Hornets when he becomes eligible to return from his suspension on Friday.
The game marks the end of his 10-game suspension to begin the season for his role in a 2022 felony domestic violence case involving the mother of his two children.
“I think he’ll be ready to play,” Clifford said on Sunday. “He’s able to practice every day. We’re well organized when he’s there. He’s in really good shape. He’s worked hard.
“I’ll be honest, we’ve been playing every other day, so that’s under: ‘Worry about tomorrow’s problems tomorrow.’ Right now, our problems are we don’t run back on defense and we don’t block out all the time. So I’ve been spending more of my time on that.
“But he’ll have a significant role right away.”
On Feb. 20th, Bridges will have a hearing on a criminal summons issued last month for violating a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property.
The alleged incident that led to the summons being issued occurred around 9 p.m. on Oct. 6 at Bridges’ private residence in Charlotte, according to a police report obtained by ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. The criminal summons describes a series of events during a custody exchange between Bridges and his former girlfriend.
Bridges is accused of throwing billiard balls at her vehicle while the children were inside, smashing the windshield and leaving dents in the car, according to the summons. He is also accused of threatening her that if she “told the police he would take everything from her and withhold child support” and that he “allowed his current girlfriend to yell, scream and kick the victim’s car while the children were inside it.” The summons does not say if the woman was in the car.
The NBA suspended Bridges for 30 games in April. Twenty were credited as time served after he didn’t play in the league last season in the wake of pleading no contest on Nov. 3, 2022, to a felony domestic violence charge of injuring a child’s parent.