CHICAGO -- Bulls power forward Bobby Portis revealed Saturday that he has been playing through a foot injury for the past two months after an incident with a heat pack. Portis said the injury occurred before a March 4 game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
"The heat pack burned me before the game," Portis said. "I was actually on the [trainer's] table. I couldn't feel it. I had my headphones in, but I didn't feel [the pack] burn through. ... Ever since then, it's been hurting."
Portis said that he didn't want to reveal the injury and risk losing his place in the rotation.
"I had a third-degree burn on my foot," Portis said. "On top of my foot. Every time I tied my shoe up, it was right there on the spot. After the game, it would be bloody and nasty."
Portis averaged 10.3 points in both March and April and played arguably the best game of his career in Game 1 of the Bulls' postseason series against the Boston Celtics, scoring 19 points and helping the Bulls to a victory. Portis said he never got an infection in the foot, but there was a scar.
"No one ever really knew about it, but it affected me a little bit," Portis said. "Every time I bent my foot, it hurt, it hurt. I didn't really never complain because I'm one of those guys that, I think I'm tough, so I didn't really try to tell anybody about it, so I just hold it in myself. Other than that, it affected me, but at the same time I followed through because I got in the rotation. I didn't want to let a foot injury get me out and have to work my way back into it."
Portis averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds this year and admitted that the foot is still giving him some pain.
"Kinda, sorta," Portis said. "It still kind of hurts. But at the same time, the doctor said it would hurt for about three or four months, so I have to go through that."
