NBA Officially Suspends Bobby Portis for 25 Games for violating the league's anti-drug policy

The NBA has suspended Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policies. This was reported by ESPN, which also published a statement from his agent Mark Bartelstein. The reason for the sanction is the use of a medication called Tramadol. His representative explains this: “I am devastated for Bobby right now because he made an honest mistake and the ramifications of it are incredibly significant.

"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", Bartelstein said.

Bobby Portis has averaged 13.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in the 46 games played this season for the Milwaukee Bucks, who have a record of 29 wins and 24 losses. Portis will miss nearly all of the remaining 29 games in the regular season schedule.
"Bobby is a great person, teammate and professional, and has a wonderful reputation in our league, his communities, and his team. There are no bigger fans of the NBA than Bobby and I, and we are grateful to have closely and collaboratively worked with the NBA on countless occasions. We support the league's anti-drug policy and its purpose in having a fair, competitive, healthy landscape for our athletes as it relates to drugs of abuse, performance enhancing issues, etc. Bobby Portis is absolutely not a drug abuser. Bobby works tirelessly on increasing his performance in all natural, legal, healthy ways, but he made 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.

Bobby loves being a part of the NBA and he loves being a role model and a true ambassador for the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee. This has been incredibly difficult for him, but he will accept this penalty with grace and turn this into a great opportunity to improve and further build his reputation and performance in every way, both on and off the court."