Mirotic practices with Bulls for first time since altercation
The Bulls climbed over a hurdle they'd been nervously eyeing for weeks. Injured forward Nikola Mirotic joined in Monday's practice and shared the basketball court with teammate Bobby Portis.
Then after practice, each player was given a stick of Gorilla glue and they set out to put a shattered vase back together in the locker room.
OK, that second line isn't true, but that's sort of what it's felt like with the delicate aftermath of the Mirotic-Portis relationship. The two players have not spoken since the Oct. 17 practice altercation that left Mirotic with facial fractures and a concussion. Portis was suspended eight games for throwing the punch that caused the injuries.
Center Robin Lopez put a happy face on Mirotic's return.
"This is great. I think we're a step closer to being at full strength," Lopez said. "I've had a locker next to Niko. I love being next to the guy. I love having him with us right now."
As Lopez was asked about the possibility of bringing his two teammates back together, he tossed in a predictable joke that was funny nonetheless. First, Lopez acknowledged that every player has had teammates they don't particularly like.
"Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people have encountered in the league," he said. "It's a very competitive league, but we're professionals for a reason, right?"
Lopez was then asked if he was willing to name a teammate he didn't get along with and with a straight face replied, "Brook Lopez."
Technically, the Lopez twins haven't played together since they left Stanford in 2008. But Lopez described a feeling shared by most of the Bulls during the past month. They hope Mirotic and Portis can get together and put the incident behind them, but think it's better to stay patient and let it happen naturally.
"If everything is going well on the basketball court, they're doing their jobs, performing their duties, I don't see why not," Lopez said. "I would hope that it would go beyond that, but if it comes to that I think it's good, it's typical."
There have been rumors that Mirotic would refuse to practice against Portis again and his representatives would ask the Bulls to trade one or the other. A trade hasn't happened, obviously. The Bulls aren't allowed to trade Mirotic until Jan. 15 because he signed a new contract just before the start of training camp.
Portis produced a pair of 20-10 games after his suspension ended. But in the eight games since then, he's averaged 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds.
"There will have to be some interaction at some point obviously now that they're out there playing together," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They'll be on the same team and playing against each other. So it is important to get those guys communicating, which I think we're all confident it will happen."
Hoiberg said Mirotic does have a face mask and thought it was likely Mirotic would wear it during Monday's practice at the Advocate Center. It's not clear when Mirotic might be activated for a game. So far, he has not attended any of the Bulls' regular season games.
Hoiberg acknowledged it's not likely Mirotic will be active for Tuesday's home game against Phoenix, but said he is planning to travel with the team to Denver on Thursday.
"The big thing is how he feels," Hoiberg said. "I told him just to have communication. If he has pain, take a little bit of a break. We'll get through all the noncontact portion of practice with him. The plan is for him to do some contact (Monday) and see how he responds and then put a plan together from there."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls