NBA gives Miles Bridges deceptive suspension

Bridges was arrested for domestic violence the night before free agency began. The felony charges came after the mother of his children posted graphic photos of her injuries online. As a result, Bridges remained unsigned, and the Hornets forward didn't play in the 2022-23 season.

After initially pleading not guilty to the charges in July, Bridges reached a plea arrangement in November. He pleaded no contest to the felony charge of injuring a child's parent, received three years of probation and no jail time. The deal also required a year of parenting classes, a year of domestic violence counseling and 100 hours of community service, plus a 10-year restraining order requiring him to stay 100 yards away from his ex.

Now, the NBA concluded its investigation by suspending Bridges for 30 games — but counting his lost 2022-23 season to be 20 games of it. Wherever Bridges signs — and despite the domestic violence charges, some team will sign him — he’ll be suspended without pay for his first 10 games.

Ultimately, this is a 10-game suspension, no matter how many games were assigned retroactively. Suspending Bridges without pay for games he already didn’t play or get paid for is the most technical of technicalities, and is effectively not an additional punishment at all.

Perhaps the NBA is trying to set a precedent by giving Bridges the longest domestic violence suspension ever — on paper. (The Hornets’ Jeff Taylor received a 24-game suspension in 2014.) But the nature of Bridges’ suspension makes it seems like the NBA is feigning more concern about domestic violence than its actual actions have shown.