Former MSU men's basketball and Charlotte Hornets player Miles Bridges meets kids at a backpack giveaway in Downtown Flint on July 27, 2024.
Former MSU men's basketballstar and Charlotte Hornets player Miles Bridges held a backpack giveaway with pizza and ice cream in his hometown Flint on Saturday afternoon.
Many attendees were seen wearing signed MSU Bridges jerseys, while others donned his Hornets jersey. The giveaway was hosted at the Wayne The Barber barbershop in downtown Flint. The event brought out hundreds of people from the community, all in the hope of receiving a backpack along with an autograph from the hometown hoops star.
“My thoughts on Miles Bridges coming today is it feels like a dream come true,” said Wayne Harrington, owner of the barbershop. “For a lot of these kids, history came true and he coming back and giving back to his community and these kids. A lot of them are less fortunate, so it’s always a big deal in my book for a local celebrity to come back, show love and give back to a community that he came from and helped raised him and give him the chance.”
Harrington said the main goal of the event was to spark hope and positivity for the city and its youth.
“Our main goal for the event is giving these kids hope, giving the community hope,” Harrington said. “Showing them God’s love for us and God’s love for these kids, the ones who are looking up to the ones that made it out of here. My thoughts is the hope part for these kids getting the chance to meet a local celebrity and to give them the hope that they can do the same thing one day.”
Inside the backpacks, which quickly ran out shortly after the event started, were school supplies and a t-shirt courtesy of BAU-HŌUSE, a local art and streetwear shop located downtown. Prior to the event, those standing in the long line to meet Bridges were given a ticket for a raffle, which was held by JJ Green, local actor and recording artist. The prizes for the raffle were a brand-new laptop, tickets to a Detroit Tigers game and concert tickets for Usher.
Bridges played for MSU's men’s basketball team for two seasons (2016-2018) under Tom Izzo. The 6-foot-7, five-star recruit saw tremendous success on the court as one of the most prolific dunkers the game has seen. In his sophomore season, he led MSU to its best regular season record in program history (28-3) before being upset by Syracuse in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
In 2018, Bridges was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft at No. 12 overall to the L.A. Clippers, but after a trade, he found his home with the Charlotte Hornets.
In 2022, Bridges was arrested and charged with felony domestic assault against his former girlfriend. In 2023, following an investigation from the NBA, the organization decided to suspend Bridges for 30 games. After serving his suspension, Bridges returned to playing for the Hornets.
In July, it was announced that Bridges would return to the Hornets on a three-year contract worth $75 million.
