Suns' Mikal Bridges Apologizes for Deandre Ayton Spat: 'It Was F--ked Up on My End'

Phoenix Suns star Mikal Bridges has apologized for his exchange with teammate Deandre Ayton toward the end of Phoenix's 113-110 loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

"To do that, I feel like it was embarrassment on just DA's part because I'm just going at him like that," he told reporters Friday. "It messed me up. It was f--ked up on my end, and I apologized to him and the team after for it."

Bridges added he and Ayton have had similar arguments before that they quickly moved on from.

Wizards forward Deni Avdija was shooting free throws with a little more than a minute left in the game when things grew tense between Bridges and Ayton. Wizards star Bradley Beal appeared to clap sarcastically while watching the situation unfold.

For some, it pointed to bigger issues within the franchise.

All appeared to be well in Phoenix when the team got out to a 15-6 start and was sitting first in the Western Conference at the start of December. Monty Williams' squad has since gone 4-7 and fallen to fourth in the standings.

That Ayton was involved in the argument also meant rehashing the drama that preceded his signing a four-year, $132.9 million contract in July. His relationship with the Suns was strained coming out of the 2022 playoffs, and agreeing to an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers spoke for itself.

When a team considers a player a franchise cornerstone, it typically proactively offers a max contract rather than waiting for the player to get it elsewhere.

One byproduct of allowing the situation with Ayton to fester is that moments like his argument with Bridges can get blown out of proportion.

Tensions are bound to be high when you trail a team that is about to break a 10-game losing streak. This wasn't even the testiest exchange between members of a Phoenix basketball team within the past year either.

Over the next week, the Suns play the Memphis Grizzlies twice, face off with the Denver Nuggets on Christmas Day and have a rematch with the Wizards. That stretch presents Williams and his players with a great opportunity to show all is well with the Suns.