Bobby Portis is not a chill guy on the court but when it comes to his 25-game suspension, he’s the opposite. That is what his former teammate Patrick Beverley suggested after he revealed their first conversation since the he was barred from playing without pay.
Portis is currently six games in on his 25-game suspension and will only return by April after he was suspended by the league for violating the anti-drug policy of the National Basketball Players Association.
The team, the front office, the big man himself swiftly accepted the verdict despite insisting that Portis is no-cheater and that it was just an honest mistake.
Beverley immediately reacted to the suspension through his own podcast saying punishment does not fit the crime.
He went back to his show and discussed what Portis’ current status is and he revealed that he tried to encourage him to appeal the suspension but his former teammate is definite that he will wait for the 25 games to over.
“ I text Bobby, ‘Bobby, what’s going on?’ F*ck is you doing?’ He goes, ‘Nah Pat man, no, it ain’t like that.’ You know the rules are the rules NBA being strict about their protocol, and that’s where I’m at now,'” Beverley said in the podcast.
The fiery guard also maintained how it does not feel right that the league did that to Bobby.
“I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think, come on, man, Bobby Portis, USA team, six men of the year, come on, dog. I’m advocating for him to be playing basketball and never want to see him get suspended.”
Milwaukee Bucks without Bobby Portis
Portis is averaging an almost triple double of 13.7 pppg and 8.3 rpg as back up to either Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.
He has been part of that rotation since arriving in Wisconsin in 2020.
How is the team coping up?
The Bucks are 5-1 without him in the line-up and that has much to do with the arrival of Kyle Kuzma and Jericho Sims.
Both players are being praised for their defense while Kuzma has been filling the hole left by Portis in terms of point production.
Kuzma is third in the team in points per game with 14.8 while Sims has become a defensive juggernaut for them ever since getting playing time.
Jericho Sims defensive rating since joining the Milwaukee Bucks: 102.1
That is #1 on the team during that span (min 15mpg)
— Justin Wills (@itsjwills) March 2, 2025
Jericho Sims has been everything that we’d have ever wanted in an athletic, switchable and rangy defensive big man:
He showcases this ability on a nightly basis on being able to extend so far out of the paint and stifle, keep up with perimeter players.pic.twitter.com/urOVxFRpqb
— Ben Sig (@sig_50) March 2, 2025
It would be interesting to see how Portis will affect Doc Rivers’ rotation once he comes back.
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