Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. has been suspended without pay for 25 games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for Tramadol, the league announced Thursday.
Portis’ suspension will begin with Thursday’s game between the Bucks and Clippers at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, who is Portis’ agent, explained in a lengthy statement to ESPN that his client made an “honest mistake” and accidentally mixed up pain medications.
“Bobby unintentionally took a pain medication called Tramadol, thinking he was taking a pain medication called Toradol,” Bartelstein said. “Toradol is an approved pain medication that he has used previously and that teams and players use for pain and inflammation at times.
“Tramadol, however, is not an approved pain medication and was just recently added to the banned substance list this past spring.”
The statement went on commend Portis for being “a great person teammate and professional” and having a positive reputation in the league.
“Bobby Portis is absolutely not a drug abuser,” Bartelstein continued. “Bobby works tirelessly on increasing his performance in all natural, legal, healthy ways, but hemade a mistake and took a pill that unknowingly he should not have.
“Today, in this instance, I am so deeply disappointed that the NBA chooses to interpret its policy so strictly, and that the policy does not allow for a different result for an honest mistake with pure intentions.”
Portis, 30, “will accept this penalty with grace,” the statement said.
This suspension would have him sidelined until Milwaukee’s final four games of the regular season against the Timberwolves on April 8, the Pelicans on April 10 and two games against the Pistons on April 11 and April 13.
Portis is averaging 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per game for the Bucks this season.
Milwaukee is 29-24 and fifth in the East coming out of the All-Star break.
Portis was selected with the 22nd overall pick by the Bulls in the 2015 NBA draft.
He was a part of the team that helped bring the first title to Milwaukee Bucks in 50 years in 2021.
