Chicago Bulls’ Bobby Portis has said that he sent team-mate Nikola Mirotic a text message, apologising to him but the Spanish international has not responded.
Portis has also gone public in his apology to Mirotic where he punched the latter, which came toward the end of a heated practice, knocking Mirotic out and giving him a concussion and several fractures in his face.
The former Real Madrid forward is expected to miss at least four to six weeks.
The Bulls suspended Portis for eight games, a ban that began before Thursday’s season opener against the Toronto Raptors.
“I’m wrong for what I did,” Portis said prior to Saturday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I want to publicly apologise to Niko. I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organisation and, most importantly, my team-mates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is.”