Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic might be an angel, because if a co-worker gave me multiple facial fractures and a concussion in a fistfight, I would be suing my employers, my employerโs employers and my employerโs employerโs employers. I would spend the rest of my days at work looking like this:
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But alas, Iโm not Mirotic, who had his damn face broken after an Oct. 17 fight with Bulls teammate Bobby Portis. Portis has since apologized, and Mirotic is looking to move on.
โWe are teammates,โ Mirotic said after Wednesdayโs practice, his first with the team and his first time speaking publicly about the incident, ESPN reports. โWe are on the same team. Obviously we are fighting for this team. We both are going to do what we need to do to make it work. Yeah, I did accept his apology.โ
Umm, fugg that. He broke your face, son. Your face!
Mirotic obviously didnโt want to rehash everything that led to the fight and wouldnโt address whether he and Portis had sat down and talked since the incident.
โIโm comfortable being with the team,โ Mirotic told ESPN. โI had a lot of support from my teammates, from everybody. Right now itโs on me to relax and enjoy playing basketball again, to get my strength back. Itโs been a long time since I didnโt play. ... When I stepped into the United Center [Tuesday], it was a huge feeling for me. Really excited just to be on the bench, so yeah, Iโm excited.โ
Mirotic noted that his face has healed, but neither he nor Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg could say when heโd actually play.
โI know heโs excited to get back out there on the floor,โ Hoiberg told ESPN. โThatโs the final hurdle here, getting him back on the court, in uniform, in a game setting. Hopefully he responds well here to these next three days, and then weโll make a determination from there as far as getting him back out on the floor. But heโs been in really good spirits. Heโs been really good with the guys. Now itโs about getting in the best shape possible and getting ready to play.โ
And while Mirotic was unclear about the nature of his relationship with Portis, he was adamant that he had no problems being a professional teammate.
โIโve been playing this game nine years professionally,โ Mirotic said. โI was always a good teammate, always professional with everybody, and Iโm going to continue to do that. If Iโm here itโs because I want to continue to support the team. Heโs a part of the team. Iโm going to support him, too. Obviously, Iโm going to give him [fist bumps], like he would give me [fist bumps,] too.โ
Heโs a much better man than I, because I would have shown up to the Bulls practice facility like:
Read more at ESPN.
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