The NBA on Thursday suspended Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, Afrosport reports.
Portis, who will miss the majority of the remainder of the season, is expected to lose $2.85 million in salary with the 25-game suspension, translating to about $114,348 per game.
The 30-year-old reportedly tested positive for the drug “tramadol”, an opioid medication used as a painkiller among adults.
Just In: The NBA has suspended Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/FeSDo4jb0k
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 20, 2025
The 2021 NBA champion will not appeal the suspension, as his representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN, calling the incident an accident.
“I am devastated for Bobby right now because he made an honest mistake and the ramifications of it are incredibly significant,” Bartelstein told ESPN.
“Bobby unintentionally took a pain medication called tramadol, thinking he was taking a pain medication called Toradol. 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 tramadol pill he took came from an assistant of his, with a valid prescription for the painkiller, which he mistakenly told Bobby was Toradol.
“This was, again, an honest mistake that was made because of the similarity in the names of the drugs and the fact they both serve a very similar purpose. Bobby was using this anti-inflammatory pain-reducing medication to deal with an elbow injury he had this past fall and believed he was taking Toradol to alleviate some pain in preparation for that night’s game.”
Portis’ suspension comes at a critical point in the season for the Bucks, who lost six of their last nine games heading into the All-Star break.
Milwaukee (29-24) currently sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and will be without one of the league’s best bench option.
He will, however, be able to return for the last four games before the postseason commences, as Milwaukee has 29 more games in the regular season.
Portis is currently averaging 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 46 games this campaign, ranking sixth in scoring and second in rebounds among substitutes.
The Bucks have one open roster spot to make an immediate move, but they cannot sign a replacement for the forward until after the sixth game of the suspension.
