The Charlotte Hornets got a win in their final 2019 Summer League game on Saturday, and Miles Bridges put an exclamation point on it with a sensational slam.
We’re getting towards the end of the first half, when Cody Martin comes up with a steal. Miles Bridges, the Charlotte Hornets young forward, gets the ball and runs up the court on the fast break. He gives us a eurostep into a… windmill dunk.
The crowd goes wild in what was perhaps the best play from this years Las Vegas Summer League thus far. We’ve seen some pretty insane highlights this year, like Jaxson Hayes‘ poster dunk over Mychal Mulder, but this dunk by Bridges, man — it was special.
This dunk had social media buzzing for the rest of the day.
The degree of difficulty on that dunk was through the roof. I don’t even know if I’ve ever seen that in a game before. It was a special highlight that his fellow peers around the NBA took note of after the game.
https://twitter.com/hornets/status/1150148120291844096
Bridges caught the attention of multiple NBA players with this move, such as Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Los Angeles’ Kyle Kuzma. Mitchell is a former Dunk Contest winner, so I have a feeling he has some tricks up his sleeve, just like Bridges does.
How did you even think to do this 😨 @MilesBridges https://t.co/f6yU4IRIbg
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) July 13, 2019
The dunk was great, but I’m sure fans are more pumped and excited about Bridges’ improvement over the summer. The two areas where he needed to improve the most were shooting and ball handling, and he seems to have been working hard in the lab on both of those areas during the off-season.
Bridges averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds during Summer League. They may not be the craziest numbers in the world, but he showed improvement in key areas and really showed what he can do. After a couple of games, I would say he had shown enough to be shut down for the remainder of the event.
He led the Hornets to a 2-3 record in Summer League. Now, let’s hope that he can carry this momentum into the regular season. Bridges is a huge piece to what the Charlotte Hornets are doing right now, and what they will be doing in the future. Many expect the second-year pro out of Michigan State to take a big leap in year two.
The dunks, like I said, are great, but Bridges will soon be known to many for his other contributions on the floor, like his defense and playmaking. He’s a promising player that has the tools to become an all-around threat in this league, not just a dunker.
For now, we can enjoy this incredible play from Bridges until the Charlotte Hornets open the 2019-20 season. I have a feeling that he will have plenty more of these kind of highlights during his NBA career.