Chicago Bulls power forward Bobby Portis was suspended for eight games after punching teammate Nikola Mirotic in the face during practice, fracturing his face and giving him a concussion. Portis has publicly apologized. From ESPN’s Nick Friedell:
“I’m wrong for what I did,” Portis said prior to Saturday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. “I want to publicly apologize to Niko. I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organization and, most importantly, my teammates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is.”
Portis has tried to reach out to Mirotic, but to no avail:
“I texted Niko. I called him. He didn’t respond,” Portis said.
Portis does believe that he’ll speak with Mirotic eventually:
“Going forward, I want to make sure that me and Niko are cool and that we can be teammates again. And I’m pretty sure we can. We just have to repair this relationship.”
…
“It hasn’t been arranged,” Portis said. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll have to talk it out. And I’m pretty sure it will be a gentle conversation. And I’m pretty sure that we can get past this.”
Portis isn’t thinking about any legal action that Mirotic could potentially take:
“I’m not concerned about that at this point,” he said. “I’m just trying to publicly apology to Niko and my teammates and [show] that I’m real sincere about the situation.
