Criminal summons issued for Hornets' Bridges

Baxter Holmes, ESPN Senior WriterOct 11, 2023, 09:04 PM ET

Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.

A criminal summons was issued Wednesday for Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges for violating a domestic violence protective order, misdemeanor child abuse and injury to personal property, according to a spokesperson for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina.

There also is an unserved arrest warrant for the 25-year-old Bridges, which was first issued on Jan. 2, for violating the domestic violence protective order, the spokesperson said. Neither the warrant nor the summons was immediately available because, as of Wednesday night, they had not yet been served.

“We are aware of the reports and are in the process of gathering more information,” a Hornets spokesperson said.

In November, Bridges pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge and was sentenced to three years of probation, but no jail time, as part of a deal with prosecutors after being accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in front of their two children in May 2022. The no-contest plea meant Bridges accepted the conviction and punishment without formally admitting guilt.

As part of that deal, Bridges was ordered to obey the terms of a 10-year protective order, which included staying 100 yards away from and having no contact with the woman in the case. He also was required to complete 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 52 weeks of parenting classes, serve 100 hours of community service and undergo weekly narcotics testing, while not being allowed to own any guns, ammunition or weapons.

The incidents that led to the criminal summons being issued Wednesday occurred Tuesday and involved the same woman, according to the case summary in Mecklenburg District Court.

In April, the NBA issued a 30-game suspension without pay for Bridges, with 20 games already served, as he sat out last season. The suspension meant that Bridges, who in July signed a one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer to return to the Hornets, wouldn’t play in the first 10 games of the coming regular season. Bridges also isn’t playing in the preseason.

In July, after signing the qualifying offer, Bridges made his first public comments on the matter, saying, “I want to apologize to everybody for the pain and embarrassment that I have caused everyone, especially my family. This year away I’ve used to prioritize going to therapy and becoming the best person I can be — someone that my family and everyone here can be proud of.”

An NBA spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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