Miles Bridges let his frustration get the better of him on Wednesday night.
The Hornets forward left his team's NBA Play-In Tournament loss against the Hawks early after being ejected from the game midway through the fourth quarter. Bridges appeared to disagree with a goaltending call and directed some strong language toward an official, who handed the 24-year-old back-to-back technical fouls.
MORE: Best highlights from Hawks vs. Hornets
Miles Bridges was ejected after arguing this goaltend call. pic.twitter.com/ijvc7SxlNF
— ESPN (@espn) April 14, 2022
On his way to the locker room, Bridges threw his mouthpiece at a man in the State Farm Arena crowd wearing a yellow hat, but he missed the man and instead struck a young girl standing in the same section.
The girl told The Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler that she didn't want to share her name. Other fans in the area described Bridges' throw as "gross."
Miles Bridges throws his mouthpiece into the crowd and hits a young girl in the face pic.twitter.com/7uJd8SXCsl
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 14, 2022
The mouthpiece that Miles Bridges threw into the stands was still sitting there 10 minutes later - kind of hard to see but here it is.
— Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler) April 14, 2022
He hit a 16-year-old girl, who didn’t want to give her name. The section of people around there had one basic description of the act:
Gross. pic.twitter.com/swWYrvyXsE
Bridges addressed the incident after the game, tweeting that his actions were "unacceptable." He also noted that he would attempt to contact the fan.
Somebody get me in contact with the young lady. That’s unacceptable. https://t.co/MlLZjMgcBF
— Miles Bridges (@MilesBridges) April 14, 2022
"I was upset about a call, a couple of calls really. I let my temper get the best of me," Bridges told reporters during his postgame media availability. "That was definitely the wrong thing to do by throwing my mouthpiece. I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me, and it hit the little girl. It's definitely unacceptable on my part. I take full responsibility. I'm ready for any consequences that the NBA gives me.
"That's on me. That's out of character for me. ... Hopefully, I can get in contact with the young girl, sincerely apologize to her and do something nice for her."
The mouthpiece toss was just one part of an ugly evening for the Hornets. Charlotte was blown out in its first game of the Play-In Tournament for the second consecutive year, falling to the Hawks by a final score of 132-103. Bridges finished with just 12 points in 30 minutes.
