Nets’ Mikal Bridges: ‘My Other Dream Was Being A Second Grade Teacher’

If Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges wasn’t in the NBA, he’d probably be a second grade teacher. 

During an interview with Caitlin O’Kane of CBS News, Bridges talked about his love for teaching. 

“My other dream was being a second grade teacher,” Bridges said. “I think just helping kids has always been a big thing of mine. … I loved second grade when I was young. I feel like that was one of the years I really remember. Just having a great year. I had a great teacher named Ms. Porter and just I feel like I always loved second grade.”

Bridges got to be a teacher for a day at PS 134 in Brooklyn. The Villanova product hopes to become a teacher or principal after he retires from the NBA. 

“A lot of days, we’re in school,” Bridges said. “And we’re with our teachers and I think they just don’t get enough credit. Because we’re around them a lot, you know what I’m saying. And they help us become better people every day. And I think some are overlooked a little bit.” 

Bridges is averaging 20.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Nets this season while shooting 43.8% from the field, 36.5% from beyond the arc and 81.2% from the free-throw line. The 27-year-old told O’Kane that math was his best subject growing up.

“Math came easy to me,” Bridges said. “I feel like I was probably one of the smartest math kids in our class. I’ll try to teach them. Like, ‘Oh, this is how I learned it and it’s pretty simple to me this way. Just think of this way.'”

Bridges has career averages of 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists with the Phoenix Suns and Nets. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.