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 on 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’s statement read in part. “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.”
Portis, 30, 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 Bucks team that helped bring the first title to Milwaukee Bucks in 50 years in 2021.
Leave a Reply