The Drug-Test Policies in the NBA are no joke. From Damian Lillard to Stephen Curry, several key players have been randomly selected after delivering high performances during a basketball game. Though others like Tyrese Maxey and Mo Bamba have taken a jab at the process, this vigilant approach is reportedly taken up in light of past incidents. Now, the same has claimed its latest victim, as Bobby Portis Jr. was recently tested positive due to taking what has been described now as an “honest mistake”. Mistake or not, the player will nevertheless face the consequences of his actions.
NBA reporter Eric Nehm recently highlighted Doc Rivers’ recent statement. The same focused on discussing how things will be different for the Milwaukee Bucks power forward for future games. In light of his 25-game suspension, Portis will reportedly be allowed to practice with the team. However, only for a limited period during game days. After all, Portis has to leave the arena two hours before game time. There is no definite answer on whether the 30-year-old can continue traveling with the team. After all, that matter is still reportedly under discussion with the league.
Per Rivers:
– Portis can practice with the team.
– Portis can be in the arena, but he has to leave two hours before gametime.
– Portis’ ability to travel with the team is still being discussed w/the NBA.
– Portis failed the test “a while ago and this has been the fight since.”
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 21, 2025
The following update comes as the NBA revealed that Bobby Portis Jr. had tested positive for tramadol. According to reports, it is a prescription-only opioid. Tramadol was approved by the FDA in 1995 and is used to manage pain post-surgery. Unfortunately, it is also classified as a Schedule 4 controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Several other known medications like Xanax, Ambien, and Valium come under this category. Therefore, despite how the medical community uses it, Tramadol is banned by the NBA due to a potential for abuse.
Bobby Portis Jr. is now the 5th player in two decades to receive a punishment after a positive drug test. During the 2019-20 season, DeAndre Ayton was suspended for 25 games after a positive drug test came out after his 18-point, 11-rebound performance. During the same season itself, Atlanta Hawks star John Collins was suspended for 25 games for testing positive for GHRP-2.
Joakim Noah received a 20-game suspension in March 2017, without pay. He had violated the league’s anti-drug policy after testing positive for LGD-4033. It is a selective androgen receptor modulator that Noah later reportedly said was in a supplement he took for injuries.
Rashard Lewis was sidelined without pay for the first 10 games of the 2009-10 season. He tested positive for a banned substance taken during the 2008–09 NBA season. The same would have been missed if he hadn’t been tested during the 2009 NBA Finals. The punishment was handed out since the over-the-counter supplement he took contained Dehydroepiandrosterone, used to combat fatigue.
The Bucks power forward is reportedly set to lose $2.85 million due to his suspension. The player has reportedly accepted the punishment. He even went ahead and issued a public apology, stating “I feel horrible and recognize that I’m responsible for what I put in my body, he said. From the bottom of my heart, I want to apologize to the Bucks organization, my teammates, coaches, family, and fans. I give everything I have on the court and will miss playing games for the Bucks during this time.” Portis’s current situation is only made sadder, knowing that all the trouble he is currently going through could have been easily avoided. Or, this is what the player’s agent wishes to convey.
Mark Bartelstein blames Bobby Portis Jr.’s employee for giving the wrong medication: “Absolutely not a drug abuser”
After the NBA announced Bobby Portis Jr.’s suspension, Priority Sports CEO Mark Bartelstein put out a statement. Bartelstein, who has been serving as the player’s agent for a while, revealed that he was “devastated” for the Bucks star. At the same time, however, he revealed that the whole incident was the consequence of an honest mistake. After all, according to the agent, Portis presumed that he was consuming something else.
“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 inflammation at times”, Bartelstein wrote. The agent further stated that “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”.
If it was an honest mistake, then Portis’s career has hit a major snag, affecting both his and his team’s season run. After a decade-long NBA career, this action is what might define the player’s legacy in the future. Therefore, Bartelstein also wanted to put out some assurances.
“Bobby Portis is absolutely not a drug abuser,” Bartelstein added. “Bobby works tirelessly on increasing his performance in all-natural, legal, and 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”.
Statement from our CEO Mark Bartelstein: pic.twitter.com/wr6PqXSKN7
— Priority Sports (@PrioritySports) February 20, 2025
What are your thoughts on the punishment handed out to Bobby Portis Jr? Let us know in the comments section.
The post Doc Rivers Confirms Effects of Bobby Portis Jr’s $2.85 Million Punishment After Agent Reveals Real Culprit Behind Suspension appeared first on EssentiallySports.
