The Chicago Bulls' season got off to one of the strangest starts in NBA history when on Tuesday, two days before Chicago's season-opening game, forward Nikola Mirotic was sent to the hospital with facial fractures suffered after being punched by teammate Bobby Portis during practice.

The Bulls have stated that blame lies on both sides and suspended Portis for eight games, while Mirotic is expected to be out 4-6 weeks while he recovers.

On Saturday, Portis issued a public apology to Mirotic, the fans and his organization. Portis also mentioned that he has texted and called Mirotic, but has not yet heard back from him. Via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

"I'm wrong for what I did," Portis said outside the Bulls' locker room. "I want to publicly apologize to Niko (Mirotic). I feel like I let my fans, the Bulls organization and most importantly my teammates down. This is not who Bobby Portis is.

"Going forward, I want to make sure that me and Niko are cool and that we can be teammates again. I'm pretty sure we can. We just have to repair the relationship.

"I was surprised by my own reaction because that's not who I am. I'm a competitor. But I never meant to hurt my own teammate.

"You know, I got suspended and it's my fault. I take it as a man. I'm just trying to repair my relationship with everybody."  

The altercation was a twofold blow for the rebuilding Bulls, as they lost one power forward to injury and another one to suspension. As a result, rookie Lauri Markkanen was pressed into heavy minutes in the team's first game, a 117-100 loss to the Toronto Raptors.

A first-round pick in the 2015 draft, Portis is entering the final year of his contract with the Bulls, who have until Oct. 31 to decide whether they want to pick up his fourth-year option for next season. Portis was expected to gain more minutes this year with the departure of Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, so it will be interesting to see how the team handles his playing time once he returns from suspension.