After the Chicago Bulls’ season got off to a horrid start on and off the court, the franchise has started to turn things around recently. The altercation between Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis in which the former suffered a fractured face seems to be in the rearview mirror. On the court at least.
Off it, things may be just as tense as they were earlier in the season. Mirotic recently discussed his early-season setback with Sportando and his still uneasy relationship with Portis:
“Not even in your worst nightmares you expect that to happen, much less with a teammate in practice. It’s not the time to go into detail and talk about it. It was a tough time because I had given up on the National Team, I had put in the work in the summer, because I was going to be in the starting lineup and felt this was going to be my year. I knew because I felt ready… Not being able to start the season and lose your spot over something like that was very hard. It took time for me to understand and be positive, but I have proved nothing can break me.”
“We’re both competitive. But it’s one thing to be competitive and another to do what he did.”
Mirotic then dove into the current state of their relationship and it doesn’t seem as if it’s improved much at all. The sharpshooting forward said he and Portis still don’t talk to each other unless they’re on the court and forced to:
“I don’t talk to him and he doesn’t talk to me. We only speak with each other on the court and only because we have to.”
This comes as a bit of a surprise because to the public eye, it appeared that the issues between the two were behind them. However, not everything is as it seems in the NBA and this is a prime example of that. Despite the team’s recent success and Portis and Mirotic thriving on the court together, the duo is obviously still not on the best of terms.
Since his return from his facial fracture, Nikola Mirotic has ignited some inspired play out of this Bulls team. He has provided a spark and much-needed scoring punch for this previously lifeless second unit and the team has reeled off an impressive 10 victories in their last 13 outings with their 3 losses coming at the hands of the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Wizards.
