Mikal Bridges Explains Taking Pay Cut on Contract to Help Knicks Win NBA Championship

Mikal Bridges says he re-signed with the New York Knicks for less than the maximum amount available because he didn't want to "make it difficult" for his team to win a championship in the future.

Bridges left about $6 million on the table when he signed a four-year, $150 million extension with the team in July.

"If I came here and preached how much I want to win, and tried to take every dollar and make it difficult for the organization, I'd just seem like a fraud, and that's not who I am," Bridges said Tuesday (h/t SNY). "I want to win bad, and whatever it takes.

Bridges continued, "I love all the guys here. So, why wouldn't I want the next man up, that needs some money, why would I not give them the opportunity to get paid as well? I think I got good amount of money.

"I think a couple more M's won't change my life, so I think it would be better to help everybody else out."

Bridges is not the first player who took a pay cut while the Knicks built their current roster.

Jalen Brunson took a loss of more than $37 million over three years when signing his $156.5 million extension ahead of the 2024-25 season, Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported for ESPN.

Both players have already earned more than $80 million in salary heading into the 2025-26 season, per Spotrac.

The money they left on the table on their latest contracts allowed the Knicks some flexibility below the second luxury tax apron, ESPN's Bobby Marks reported in July.

The Knicks have since used that flexibility to set up a training camp battle between Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet and Garrison Mathews for the last roster spot in New York.

Bridges and the Knicks will hope using that cap space to add depth to the roster will help the team build on last spring's Eastern Conference Finals appearance with an even deeper playoff run in 2026.