NBA star Mikal Bridges fulfills his lifelong dream of teaching in school for a day

Humanity shines brightest when those who 'have it all' reach out to uplift others, a gesture both priceless and profoundly needed. NBA star Mikal Bridges has won hearts with his electrifying skill set and added more to his persona by fulfilling one of his most wholesome dreams. The star wanted to teach for quite some time and was overwhelmed by being able to fulfill his dream with a few students by becoming a teacher for a day, per CBS News. In the interview, the star revealed that his dream next to being an NBA star was to teach as a 2nd-grade teacher.

"I think just helping kids has always been a big thing of mine," he said while elaborating on his specifics of teaching the second grade. "I feel like that was one of the years I remember. Just having a great year. I had a great teacher named Ms. Porter and I just feel like I always loved second grade." After gaining inspiration from his teacher, Bridges completed his dream at PS 134 in Brooklyn. He decided to become a teacher for a day and do everything and understand from the lens of a teacher what the whole feeling is like. The player had a long night with his game but ensured that he committed to the early start.

Kicking off his teaching stint, Bridges organized a basketball game for the fourth graders, sharing his love for the game. "Their energy was just like, what got me going so fast. They got me excited," the player said. He moved on to take questions and engage with the kids, who were delighted and excited to spend time with the star. Bridges revealed that one of the kids hit him with a profound question he was honored to answer. The question was, "How do you incorporate your personal and professional life?" To this, the star responded, "It's not that bad. I think the biggest thing is time. In season, you don't have that much time because I travel a lot. But I've been in it for about six years now, so I found a good balance between hanging out with friends and relaxing and preparing for the games."

Another kid asked him about his passion for teaching and Bridges had quite the answer for the same as well. "Because of basketball. But basketball doesn't go forever," he said. "This is just the first part of my journey, so I think being a teacher is going to come up next. Trying to do both." Going ahead with music class, Bridges revealed that he had no clue how to work the xylophone and the kids gladly obliged to help. "They were teaching me on the little xylophone. I didn't know what I was doing, what the teacher was teaching," he remarked.

He added that the kids patiently and enthusiastically helped him step by step, bringing a gush of wholesomeness to the already heartwarming experience. Finishing off with riddles and math class, Bridges was astounded by the kids' talent and the tremendous energy required to teach efficiently. "We're with our teachers a lot and I think they just don't get enough credit. Because we're around them a lot, you know what I'm saying. And they help us become better people every day. And I think some are overlooked a little bit," he remarked before mentioning his future dream of becoming a teacher and even principal to shape young minds.