Last Thursday, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. was suspended 25 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.
Portis tested positive for the painkiller Tramadol, which he used to treat an elbow injury.
“I made an honest mistake and took a pain-reducing anti-inflammatory pill that is not approved,” Portis said in a statement. “I feel horrible and recognize that I’m responsible for what I put in my body.”
Portis’ agent, Mark Bartelstein, called it an accident, as Portis “unintentionally took a pain medication called Tramadol, thinking he was taking [an approved] pain medication called Toradol.”
Portis declined to appeal the suspension.
Prior to the suspension, Portis was averaging close to 14 points in his fifth season playing for Milwaukee. He had the second-most rebounds per game on the team behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, helping the Bucks land second in defensive rebounds so far this season.
The earliest that Portis can return is April 8th, just five days before the regular season ends. I’m confident Portis will continue practicing and return to bolster the Bucks’ frontcourt during the playoffs.
Despite Portis accepting responsibility, many fans and media members responded to the announcement with disapproval of the lengthy suspension.
I understand the reactions, but it appears that the fans care more about punishment for off-court conduct than the players themselves do.
If players were indeed outraged about the length of suspensions — especially those without pay — the NBPA would’ve made that clear in the most recent CBA talks.
Yet the main priorities for players negotiating the 2023 CBA were player investment opportunities, salary, benefit increases and elimination of the cannabis ban.
The most recent high-profile grievances from the NBPA involved Jimmy Butler and Ja Morant for disciplinary action imposed by the Heat and the league, respectively.
Whether it is a league-mandated 10-game minimum suspension or up to 30, as in the case of Miles Bridges, the decision to suspend players is made at the discretion of the league and knowledge of the players’ union.
To understand why players largely aren’t appealing hefty suspensions, I reviewed the last five collective bargaining agreements, going back to 1999.
The 2011 CBA came after the lockout where the NBA and NBPA were initially unable to reach an agreement after the 2005 CBA expired.
In this agreement, players convicted of a violent felony would receive an immediate suspension of at least ten games in addition to 5-10 mandatory counseling sessions.
In 2014, then-Hornets forward Jeffery Taylor was suspended for 24 games after pleading guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence assault.
At the time, league commissioner Adam Silver said that the suspension was “necessary to protect the interests of the NBA and the public’s confidence in it.” The 24-game suspension did not become the standard amount for incidents of this nature, the league opting to review such situations on a case-by-case basis.
Three years and a number of domestic violence charges against players later, the 2017 CBA included a new exhibit for the purpose of addressing “domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in the NBA.”
The 2023 situation concerning Miles Bridges is infamous, not merely because of the gruesome details that led Bridges to plead no contest, but also because the NBA technically waived 20 of the suspended games due to his status as an unsigned free agent during the previous season.
Even with the Bridges case and the fumbled Jaxson Hayes domestic violence investigation, the language concerning the joint NBA/NBPA policy on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse has not changed at all between 2017 and 2023.
The 2023 CBA maintains the case-by-case approach, and the NBA has the right to “fine, suspend or dismiss or disqualify” any player who violates the aforementioned joint policy. It also states that “repeat offenders will be subject to enhanced discipline.”
It seems “enhanced” is subject to interpretation.
In 2023, Union President CJ McCollum discussed the collective bargaining negotiations taking place, saying their main goal was to “better articulate players’ feelings on certain issues.”
Therefore, if the degree of suspensions mattered that much to the players affected, they would express such feelings, but they typically don’t.
Draymond Green didn’t appeal his 2023 suspension that was labeled indefinite, even before it was reduced to 12 games. Even if Portis truly made a honest mistake, he didn’t deem the punishment unjust enough to challenge, which he was free to do through the Grievance Arbitration process.
Portis taking responsibility for mistakenly violating the Anti-Drug Program isn’t a simple story of integrity — it says much more about how empowered players feel to advocate for themselves.
It’s concerning that fans and media are regularly more outraged about the imposed discipline than the players deemed to be victims, all while other offenders in the league face less severe punishment.
Reevaluating discipline for various types of player conduct should be a priority during negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement in 2030.
