Miles Bridges says he could be playing for Hornets by March

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Miles Bridges says he may be back in the NBA soon, returning to play for the Charlotte Hornets.

“It’s been a long process,” Bridges told The Associated Press on Tuesday night at halftime of Michigan State’s home game against No. 17 Indiana. “I might be back in March.”

Bridges, who led Charlotte in scoring last season, has not played this season while under an NBA investigation.

He pleaded no contest three months ago in Los Angeles to a felony count of injuring a child’s parent, agreeing to do so in exchange for three years probation and no jail time. Bridges also has to complete 52 weeks of parenting classes, 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 100 hours of community service as part of the agreement. The charges stemmed from accusations that he assaulted his girlfriend in front of their two children in June, the Los Angeles County district attorney said.

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Bridges may face disciplinary action from the league.

The restricted free agent spent his first four NBA seasons with the Hornets and was set to cash in on averaging 20.2 points, seven rebounds and 3.8 assists — all career highs — until his future with the team and in the league was put in doubt.

Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak, earlier this month, offered little in the way of the team’s plans with Bridges moving forward.

“The NBA is conducting an investigation and I don’t know when that is going to end,” Kupchak said. “When it ends, we’ll have more information and we’ll go from there. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what kind of impact that had on our team this year.”

Bridges, who is from Flint, Michigan, averaged 17 points over two seasons with the Spartans before entering the NBA in 2018.

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