How did Mikal Bridges play in 83 NBA games in a season?

Mikal Bridges is a small forward who currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets. Any NBA fan knows that the regular season consists of 82 games. But this season, Mikal Bridges played in 83 regular season games. When he checked in for four seconds in the Nets' last game of the regular season, he was playing in his 83rd game. How exactly is this possible?

Bridges was picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 10th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. They proceeded to trade him to the Phoenix Suns before the beginning of the season. The Suns were one of the worst teams in the NBA that season, finishing at the bottom of the table in the western conference with a 19-63 record. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Mikal Bridges who was quickly moved into a starting role.

With his unique combination of elite defense and being a respectable 3-point shooter, he quickly became an important cog in the wheel for the Suns. In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, he started in every game for the Suns. In fact, since the time he was drafted, he hasn't missed a single game. He has played in 392 consecutive regular season games, easily leading all active players.

In the 2022-23 season, Bridges played in 56 games for the Suns, putting up a career-high 17.2 points per game. On February 9th, 2023, the NBA world woke up to the shocking news that the Suns had acquired Kevin Durant. This blockbuster 4-team trade involved Mikal Bridges being shipped to Brooklyn to join the Brooklyn Nets.

Due to how complicated the NBA schedule is, at any random point in the season, not every team has played the same number of games. And this is exactly what happened in this case. Prior to the trade deadline, the Suns had played 56 games, whereas the Nets had only played 55 games. That is, the Nets had 27 games remaining in the season. Mikal Bridges played in all 27 of those games, which when combined with the 56 games he played for the Suns, puts his season total of games played at 83.

Did Mikal Bridges set a record for most games played in a single NBA season?

No, he didn't. In fact, there are 41 other players who have played in 83 or more games in a season. The previous instance being Josh Smith during the 2014-15 season who also played in 83 games. Interestingly, 83 is not even close to the record.

The record for most games played in a single regular season is held by Walt Bellamy, who played in an astounding 88 games during the 1968-69 season. This might be one of the most unbreakable records in NBA history. In order to play in 89 games in a season, a player would have to be:

• Good Enough to play every game
• Not get injured
• Get traded to a team that has played 7 less games than their original team
• Continue to play every game for the team they were traded to

In the era of load-management, the number of players who are playing every game, even if they are healthy, is fast dwindling. Therefore, Bellamy's record is probably safe for the time-being. But who knows! Maybe the right set of circumstances will occur for someone to break it. Strangers things have certainly happened in the NBA.