Hornets forward Miles Bridges will be absent when Charlotte takes on the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night.
After Bridges posted and deleted "Got denied in the 6" on X, multiple reports confirmed that the Hornets forward was denied entry into Canada on Sunday. While the Hornets were hoping for him to gain access into the country in time for the game, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that it's "unlikely to be reversed."
Bridges was suspended for the first 10 games of the season as he completed a 30-game suspension handed to him by the NBA.
Here is why Bridges is unable to travel to Canada and will be unavailable for Monday night's game against the Raptors.
MORE: Explaining Miles Bridges' suspension stemming from domestic violence case
Why Miles Bridges can't play in Canada
According to ESPN, Bridges was denied entrance due to "past legal problems," likely referring to the Hornets forward's felony domestic violence charges stemming from an incident in the summer of 2022.
The Canada Visa website outlines the restrictions surrounding United States citizens with felony convictions on their criminal record:
Any U.S Citizen or permanent resident that has a felony conviction on their criminal record may be deemed inadmissible to Canada for the purposes of immigrating, or even if they’re merely coming to Canada to visit.
In some cases, individuals with felony convictions may never be granted access to immigrate or visit Canada, and risk being denied entry to the country even decades post-conviction. Canadian immigration officers have full access to all the criminal record databases in the United States, so anyone who has been convicted of a felony would likely be stopped on their way into Canada. Those with more recent offenses on record, or who are in the process of serving a sentence, would likely encounter greater issues when attempting to enter.
Ahead of the game, the Hornets announced that Bridges was not with the team, citing personal reasons on the official injury report.
The Hornets' next trip to Toronto comes in early March.
What did Miles Bridges do?
In June 2022, Bridges was arrested in Los Angeles on multiple offenses, including felony domestic violence charges. In the state of California, felony domestic violence is a domestic crime committed with aggravating factors, which includes violence resulting in bodily injury.
Following his arrest, Bridges was released on $130,000 bond, according to police records.
In November of 2022, Bridges pleaded no contest after a court appearance, meaning he was accepting the punishment and the conviction without formally admitting guilt. While Bridges did not serve any jail time, he received three years probation, which included a 10-year protective restraining order from his former partner.
In early October 2023, a report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department stated that Bridges violated the protective order during a custody exchange with his ex-partner, with whom he has two children.
