Iron Man Bridges plays in 500th consecutive game

Nets forward Mikal Bridges reached another milestone in his Iron Man quest on Tuesday, as he played in his 500th consecutive game — regular season and playoffs — against the New Orleans Pelicans at Barclays Center.

Bridges will have a chance to surpass Derek Fisher’s streak of 537 consecutive games played at some point next season, assuming he stays healthy, and could come close to John Stockton’s streak of 609 consecutive games played as well if the Nets make the playoffs in 2024-25.

But Bridges still has ways to go before he can even think about passing three-time NBA champion A.C. Green, who is the league’s all-time Iron Man with 1,192 consecutive games played from 1986-01.

“Nobody sees the practices that he doesn’t sit out,” interim head coach Kevin Ollie said of Bridges. “Everybody’s focused on the games, but he’s there at practice, in his workouts, and doing the things he does in the dark when nobody’s looking is more impressive to me than just a game.”

Bridges’ regular-season games played streak (461 games) is currently more than double the next-longest active streak. Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes is currently at 206 consecutive games played.

The 27-year-old also played in all 116 games during his college career at Villanova before entering the NBA.

“He’s always present,” Ollie said. “So, great accomplishment for him. I know it’s a huge accomplishment for him and also a huge accomplishment for the organization. But 500 is big time, and we’re just going to continue to support him as he’s on his journey.”