The NBA has suspended Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis for 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, the league announced Thursday, a ban that sidelines the 2021 champion for the majority of the remainder of the season.
Portis tested positive for the drug tramadol, a medication used to treat severe pain in adults. It is an instance that his representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, said was an accident.
Portis will not appeal the suspension, Bartelstein said. The Bucks have one open roster spot to make an immediate move while Portis will lose $2.85 million with the 25-game suspension.
“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.”
