Portis thought knee injury might have been season-ending
The Chicago Bulls were in no mood to rehash the 149 points and endless 3-pointers scored by Golden State on Monday, so forward Bobby Portis stepped forward to talk about his recent knee injury.
Portis limped across the court wearing a brace and some sort of stim device, with a bulky controller in his hands.
"Kind of relieved that it's 4-6 weeks and not the entire season or even more," Portis said Tuesday at the Advocate Center. "I've been blessed to play this game my whole life not having to ever sit out (until now)."
The injury happened during the fourth quarter of last Wednesday's victory over Charlotte at the United Center. Portis was diagnosed with a moderate MCL sprain in his right knee. Coincidentally, point guard Kris Dunn suffered the same injury to his left knee two days earlier in a loss to Dallas.
"Wrong place, wrong time," Portis said. "I was going up to attempt to contest Nic Batum's dunk and Tony Parker just fell on my knee. I felt it pop a little bit, thought it was worse than it was and obviously I try to fight through everything.
"I don't feel any pain, I just can't play basketball at the level and intensity of how hard I play. I don't want to go out there trying to play. I'll do a discredit to myself, my team and my family."
With Portis, Dunn, Lauri Markkanen (elbow) and Denzel Valentine (ankle) sidelined, the Bulls won't be at full strength until at least early December.
"When players go down that gives other players opportunities to step up and do their thing," Portis said. "We can't just worry about us coming back to help, but it'll be a big boost."
Hoiberg talks coaching:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg addressed the surprising firing of Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue. All Lue did in three seasons with the Cavs was win a championship and reach the Finals twice. But he was let go after an 0-6 start this season.
"To have that happen so early in the season with injuries that they've had, it's tough," Hoiberg said. "Ty is a very well-respected coach all around the league. I know that for a fact. He'll have another opportunity, I'm confident of that as well.
"This is a tough job. It's a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, you have to find a way to continue to grind and keep going. But it's a tough day when a fellow coach that you have a lot of respect for, that it happens this early in the season."
Bulls add options:
The Bulls officially picked up contract options for the 2019-2020 season on Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine.
The moves were expected and those were the only three players on the roster eligible for rookie contract options. Those three players have combined to play in one game so far this season because of injuries.