Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic has been hospitalized and is out indefinitely after a fight with teammate Bobby Portis at Tuesday’s practice, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Bulls’ Nikola Mirotic hospitalized after alleged ‘cheap shot’ from teammate Bobby Portis
Two Bulls power forwards were involved in a “serious altercation” at Tuesday’s practice. Portis has been suspended eight games.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Portis has been suspended for eight games for his role in the incident, the team announced. Mirotic will miss 4-6 weeks with the injury, according to team president John Paxson.
Portis reportedly struck Mirotic in the face with an alleged “cheap shot” following a shoving match during practice. However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Portis threw a punch after Mirotic charged at him following an escalating conflict.
The players had been talking trash to one another in practice, going back and forth before those exchanges escalated into a physical encounter, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mirotic charged at Portis twice before Portis threw a punch and connected with Mirotic’s face, league sources said. Mirotic dropped to the floor and lay there for several minutes before getting up, league sources said.
Mirotic suffered a fractured bone in his face and sustained a concussion, according to the team. He could need surgery. The two veterans had been vying for minutes in Chicago’s rotation.
Mirotic, entering his fourth season with the Bulls, just signed a two-year, $27 million extension during the offseason. Portis is entering his third year in the NBA after being selected with the No. 22 pick in the 2015 draft.
Mirotic was expected to be the starter at power forward when the Bulls opened the season on Thursday against the Raptors.
Chicago is widely viewed as one of the league’s worst teams after trading Jimmy Butler in the offseason. The team does have another option at power forward in rookie Lauri Markkanen if Mirotic is out for an extended period.
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