Doc Rivers defends Bobby Portis after suspension: "He does not consume drugs"

The NBA has recently sanctioned Bobby Portis. The Milwaukee Bucks player is serving a 25-game suspension for violating the anti-drug policy after testing positive for Tramadol.

Following the incident, Doc Rivers, the Bucks' coach, has recently defended his player's innocence in statements collected by HoopsHype: "I want to make something clear: Bobby doesn't take drugs. I hate that it just says he violated the drug policy. And so, when people read that, the first place they go is the wrong place. It's the biggest mistake you can make."

Bobby Portis's Statement

When the news broke, Bobby Portis's agent released the following statement: "Bobby accidentally took a pain reliever called Tramadol, thinking he was taking a pain reliever called Toradol. Toradol is an approved pain reliever he has used before and that teams and players sometimes use for pain and inflammation."

"However, Tramadol is not an approved pain reliever and was recently added to the list of banned substances last spring. The Tramadol pill he took came from one of his assistants, with a valid prescription for the pain reliever, who mistakenly told Bobby it was Toradol."

"This was, again, an honest mistake made due to the similarity in the names of the medications and the fact that both serve a very similar purpose. Bobby was using this anti-inflammatory medication to reduce pain to treat an elbow injury he had last fall and believed he was taking Toradol to alleviate some pain in preparation for the game that night."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Doc Rivers defiende a Bobby Portis tras su sanción: "No consume drogas"