Fans react to Mikal Bridges' momentary appearance to keep 556 streak alive 

New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges entered Sunday's game against the Brooklyn Nets with 555 consecutive games played. With the Knicks already secured as the third seed in the Eastern Conference, the team's key players were all supposed to be rested for the game, including Bridges.

That would have meant the end of his long-standing streak of playing ball games in the NBA. Therefore, Bridges found a loophole to work around the predicament and register his 556th appearance.

The 28-year-old started the game along side other players but forcefully fouled a Nets player in the very first possession, immediately affter tip-off. He ran off the court with a smile on his face after that.

This stirred up a discussion among fans on social media. One user on X tweeted:

"Just shows the streak itself doesn’t mean anything"

Other users on X, who didn't appreciate the way he kept the streak going joined in on the thread:

"Nasty work. I’d beat his ass in the locker room if I was his teammate. I’d for sure be team leader," a user tweeted.

"torn on this. respect the hustle but makes a little bit of a mockery of it at the same time," another user added.

"Why didn’t he play for a bit at least. He’s never been injured, playing 15 mins isn’t some kind of huge risk," a user mentioned.

Other users on X liked how he kept it going:

"Mikal Bridges is the iron man of the NBA!!!" a fan tweeted.

"Wow, dedication at its finest. Can't hate on that, respect for sure," a fan commented.

The Knicks are playing the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs and key players needed to be rested. That might have affected Bridges, who seems to be chasing record-holder A.C. Green, who had 1,192 games played in a row.

Mikal Bridges' 556 games played places him at No. 13 on the list. He is currently averaging 17.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in his debut season with the Knicks.

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Mikal Bridges and coach Tom Thibodeau resolved issues after conflicting comments

Mikal Bridges, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, had asked coach Tom Thibodeau to relax the team's minutes loads. Coach Thibodeau, on the other hand, denied ever having the conversation with Bridges.

However, a new report emerged that they had a private conversation last month, as noted by ESPN's Shams Charania.

"After both those comments were made publicly, I'm told that both Mikal Bridges and Tom Thibodeau held a closed-door meeting in Portland before that game on Wednesday," Charania said. "It's been described to me by everyone involved as a productive meeting, one that both sides were able to hash things out, get their feelings across... Both sides have moved on. The Knicks, as far they're concerned, this is over."

Coach Thibodeau has been known for being highly demanding of his players. The Knicks have three of their players in the top five of players with most minutes per game in the league.

Josh Hart tops the list with 37.6 minutes played per game, Bridges is second with 37.5 mpg, and OG Anunoby is fifth with 36.6 mpg.