Sports

NBA Player Breaking A Teammate’s Face In Practice Doesn’t Seem Outstanding

(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nikola Mirotic; Cristiano Felicio

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Two Chicago Bulls players were involved in an altercation during practice that ended with one player getting his face broken.

Yahoo Sports reported the following:

Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis has been suspended eight games by the team for his role in a practice altercation with Nikola Mirotic that resulted in Mirotic being hospitalized and sidelined indefinitely.

Mirotic was taken to the hospital Tuesday after a shoving altercation during practice ended with an alleged surprise punch from Portis to Mirotic’s face, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The Bulls announced Wednesday that Mirotic suffered maxillary fractures and a concussion and will likely undergo surgery. He is expected to be out for the foreseeable future, league sources said.

It’s always a good sign that the team is headed in the right direction when players are fracturing the face of a teammate. That has championship written all over it.

What do you do in a situation like this if you’re the coach? You can’t have an atmosphere or culture where players are fighting each other to the point of serious injuries. I played high school basketball on an undefeated state championship team. I wasn’t particularly good, but the kid at the end of the bench gets the same ring as the guy scoring 25 points a game.

We’d occasionally scrap in practice, but it was generally over after a few seconds. It never lasted long, and we certainly weren’t fracturing people’s faces and giving people concussions.

I wouldn’t recommend rushing out and betting on the Bulls anytime soon.

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