Bucks Bobby Portis - Photo by NBA.com
MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – The Milwaukee Bucks will be without forward Bobby Portis for the next 25 games after the league determined on Thursday that he violated the NBA’s anti-drug program.
According to a statement released by Portis’ agent Mark Bartelstein, the failed test was a result of “an honest mistake” due to him being under the impression that he was taking a league-approved pain medication called Toradol but was instead taking Tramadol which is banned by the anti-drug program.
“Bobby Portis is absolutely not a drug abuser,” Bartelstein said in the release. “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.”
Portis released a statement of his own apologizing to fans saying, “I feel horrible and recognize that I’m responsible for what I put in my body. 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 terribly miss playing games for the Bucks during this time.”
Tramadol, a prescription-only opioid that was approved by the FDA in March of 1995 is mainly used to treat pain as a patient recovers from surgery, was listed as a Schedule 4 drug by the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) along with other medications such as Xanax, Ambien, and Valium.
The Bucks are currently the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and are only one game back of the Indiana Pacers for the fourth seed. Milwaukee is scheduled to return from the All-Star break tonight when they host the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. on WSAU.
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