The Chicago Bulls announced on Wednesday that Bobby Portis would be suspended eight games for punching Nikola Mirotic during a practice altercation on Tuesday.
After punching Nikola Mirotic in the face and sending him to the hospital on Tuesday, Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson announced that Bobby Portis was suspended eight games.
The suspension came after Portis and Mirotic got into it during a practice on Tuesday and ended with Portis laying out Mirotic with a single punch that broke multiple bones in Mirotic’s face and gave him a concussion.
“Bobby Portis is not a bad person,” Paxson said to reporters on Wednesday after practice, via Sean Highkin. “He’s a good kid. But in this case, he made a mistake. And mistakes have consequences.”
Paxson noted that both players were being “aggressive”, but Portis’ punch was the obvious elephant in the room.
“Both players owned responsibility for the incident, but only one player threw a punch. To us, that is unacceptable,” Paxson said, via Highkin.
Along with the Portis suspension, Paxson announced that Mirotic would miss the next 4-6 weeks with his post-punch injuries suffered on Tuesday.
Paxson said Mirotic’s concussion has to subside before facial issues can be addressed.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 18, 2017
The Bulls noted in their official news release that surgery is likely required for Mirotic and so have the doctors, according to Paxson. The final decision on the matter comes down to what Mirotic himself wants to do moving forward.
Paxson said doctors feel surgery best but up to Niko.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 18, 2017
Despite the reports about Portis’ punch, Paxson also disputed that the punch that struck Mirotic was not a “sucker punch”. “I wouldn’t call it a sucker punch, no,” Paxson said, via Vincent Goodwill of NBC Sports Chicago.
Neither player was in the Advocate Center on Wednesday as Paxson, Fred Hoiberg and Robin Lopez all spoke with reporters. Both players will not travel with the team to Toronto for the regular season opener on Thursday night, which means the start at power forward will go to rookie Lauri Markkanen.
Next: There's an outlet with the Portis-Mirotic situation that could be taken
Hoiberg also said that Paul Zipser and Quincy Pondexter (who will suit up and play on Thursday) will also see some time at the power forward position against the Raptors.
Hoiberg said starters are Grant, Holiday, Zipser, Markkanen, Lopez.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 18, 2017
When Hoiberg was asked if Portis and Mirotic would play together again, the third-year head coach replied, “Well, that’s our job.”