"I Hate It A Lot": Miles Bridges Reacts To Charlotte Fans' Warm Reception To Opposing Teams
Nov 28, 2025
For NBA players, it’s hard enough to lose in front of a home crowd. It’s even tougher when the crowd cheers for the opposing team.
On Wednesday, Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges heard the fans inside Spectrum Arena express their admiration for the New York Knicks, who had come to town for an Emirates NBA Cup win. Fresh off the Knicks’ 129–101 thrashing of the Hornets, Bridges was asked to give his thoughts on the Charlotte crowd’s behavior.
“I hate it. I hate it a lot,” a visibly disgusted Bridges told reporters. “It happens when the Knicks come. It happens when the Lakers come.”
Though Bridges’ reaction is understandable, the Hornets are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to contending with the star power of the Knicks and Lakers, two storied franchises that are based in major-market cities. Outside of LaMelo Ball (and perhaps an up-and-coming Kon Knueppel), the Hornets don’t have anyone who stands a chance in the popularity department.
Bridges and his teammates, of course, have a multitude of ways to retain their home crowd’s attention. There’s a problem there, though. “We didn’t do anything to shut them up,” the 6-foot-7 forward admitted. “Guys on this team don’t like losing, but we gotta do something to change it.”
One of the areas that the Hornets need to seriously tweak is their defense, which was thoroughly exposed by the Knicks on Wednesday night. Charlotte allowed New York to shoot 56.8% from the field and 52.0% from beyond the arc. All five Knicks starters ended up with double-digit scoring, led by Jalen Brunson’s 33 points on a 14-for-28 clip.
The Hornets need to find their identity on offense as well. They’re 21st in three-point-field-goal percentage, 23rd in turnovers (meaning, they’re in the bottom third when it comes to limiting their own errors), and 24th in pace. Sooner rather than later, the Hornets will have to figure out whether they’ll play fast and get easy buckets or slow things down to favor half-court sets.
Charlotte will have to make its move before the season gets completely out of hand. Otherwise, Bridges will have to endure more nights when the home crowd cheers for the Hornets’ foes.
