Hornets’ Miles Bridges Hits 16-Year-Old Female Fan With Mouthpiece After Ejection

Following his ejection from the 132-103 loss to the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night, Hornets F Miles Bridges struck a young fan with his mouthpiece as he exited the court.

He later called his actions “unacceptable,” though the damage had been done.

The fourth-year player was whistled for a goaltending call on De’Andre Hunter midway through the fourth quarter and went after ref James Williams, who quickly doled out two technical fouls.

As he headed to the locker room, a Hawks fan yelled at him which led to him turning around and throwing his mouthpiece. The projectile hit a 16-year-old nearby fan in the shoulder.

“I was aiming for the guy that was screaming at me and it hit a little girl,” Bridges said. “So that’s definitely unacceptable on my part and I take full responsibility. … That’s out of character for me. You’ve been around me; I don’t act like that or ever flash out like that. So that was definitely wrong, a lot of emotions and hopefully I can get in contact with the young girl and sincerely apologize to her and do something nice for her, but that’s definitely on me.”