There’s only one real question now: Can Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic ever play together again?
During a practice last Tuesday at which no media members were allowed, Bulls power forward Portis punched fellow power forward Mirotic in the face after some type of confrontation. Mirotic suffered a concussion and broken bones in his face and possibly will have surgery to repair the facial damage once he fully recovers from the effects of the blow to his brain. He hasn’t been back to practice or spoken with teammates since the trauma.
This is how the real world of punches works. It’s not the phony-baloney movie stuff where two guys trade haymakers to the face and the hero walks away with a little blood trickling from the corner of his lip.
Big men can kill each other with one punch.
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I’ll refer you to the Kermit Washington/Rudy Tomjanovich mayhem of 40 years ago, if you want details. During a brawl in a game on Dec. 9, 1977, Washington hit a running Rudy T so hard that the posterior portion of Tomjanovich’s face was knocked far out of alignment. His skull was fractured, and bitter spinal fluid leaked into his mouth. He was in the hospital for two weeks and would need five surgeries to reconstruct his face. He easily could have died.
So Portis did what is now taboo in the league. And thank God it is. Fighting used to be common in the NBA, and it was never a good thing. In fact, it was hideous.
And punching your own teammate?
Doubly not good.
Yes, there are heated moments in practices. Basketball is an edgy game wherein the difference between a foul and hard, clean play is razor-thin, sometimes too narrow to determine. And competitors get mad.
Portis and Mirotic, from vastly different ethnicities and cultures, were competing for the Bulls’ starting power forward spot, with opening night just 48 hours later.
Apparently, Mirotic had won the role, but according to sources, there was tension between the two large men all through training camp. This is something coach Fred Hoiberg and president John Paxson should have been aware of and tamped down firmly before the explosion.
Mirotic likely will be out until December, and when he comes back, he’ll certainly be wearing some kind of protective mask. Halloween will be long gone, and the mask will be cumbersome, embarrassing, uncomfortable and — worst of all — a constant reminder of a teammate’s violence.
That will be the essence of the issue between Portis and Mirotic. Can the wounded man ever forgive the aggressor? More to the point, can he ever trust that man the way impassioned, one-direction teammates must?
Then, too, can Portis ever fully forgive himself, go full tilt, be a beast on the court, bearing the shame he must feel?
Back in the day, players like the Bulls’ feisty Norm Van Lier built their games around aggressiveness and fighting, if need be. I saw one fight wherein Van Lier and opposing guard Calvin Murphy went at it in something like a cage match. Stormin’ Norman once picked up a chair and chased Sidney Wicks around the court, saying later that he wanted to break Wicks’ legs.
But the 6-2 Van Lier weighed all of 175 pounds, and heart and desire were his only gifts. And, yes, times were different.
I wonder if either Portis or Mirotic must be traded. Portis apologized, sincerely, but that may not be enough.
Michael Jordan once punched teammate Steve Kerr in practice, in the preseason before the Bulls went 72-10 and won their fourth NBA title in six years. Kerr had a black eye that looked as though it had been painted on with tar. Jordan was saddened, confused and embarrassed by what he’d done. He called Kerr that night at home to apologize
“He told me he felt horrible,” Kerr told me later. “But still, the next day, everything was a little uncomfortable, you know. Because I had that shiner as a constant reminder.”
The reminder stays. That’s the deal. That’s the thin line of reality.
After that, everything’s up for grabs.
Follow me on Twitter @ricktelander.
Email: rtelander@suntimes.com
