The last thing any NBA player wants is for their legacy to be a violent one. It happened to Kermit Washington, who, as good as he was, will forever be remembered for punching and seriously injuring Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977. It very nearly happened to former Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis, who talked to JJ Redick and finally opened up about that incident.
Altercation in practice
On October 17, 2017, Portis and Mirotic traded blows in practice, but it was the latter that got the worst of it. Mirotic was hospitalized with a concussion and multiple facial fractures, while the Bulls handed Portis an eight-game suspension. Worst of all, Portis gained a reputation for being a hothead and a troublemaker, which he felt was undeserved.
“It was just one of those situations where like, me and him got into a little back and forth on the court. We’re going back and forth, this and that. I score. He scores. And then he ran up on me, push me, push me, push me, and this and that,” said Portis.
It wasn’t long before Portis got traded to the Washington Wizards. The next season, he signed with the New York Knicks. Through it all, his reputation followed—he was seen as a hothead, and he had to work hard to correct such a notion.
Life lesson
Portis is in a good place now: an NBA champion and a vital cog of the currently NBA leading Milwaukee Bucks. He looks back on his time with the Bulls and reflects on the life lesson he learned.
“It was one of those things that’s definitely a life-learning lesson for me. It made me better as a person and better as a basketball player as well because then, after I came back from suspension, I really had to, like, show people like what my worth was and that I can really play and almost like a blessing in disguise for real for real because I got a chance just to go out there and just try to beat some adversity,” said Portis.
“But during the time, it definitely tarnished my name, tarnish my reputation and tarnish my image. So I’m just so forever grateful for Milwaukee being able to come here being able to clean my name, clean my image.”
