Bucks' Bobby Portis Striving to Avoid Techs This Season — But Is It Costing Milwaukee?

The perpetual Sixth Man of the Year contender has backed off a bit in his NBA middle age.

Nov 26, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) during the second quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Milwaukee Bucks reserve power forward/center Bobby Portis has always been a spirited player.

The perpetual Sixth Man of the Year candidate is infamous for his fiery on-court intensity. Portis used to be a magnet for technical foul calls throughout his tenure with the Bucks. His behavior as a hardwood irritant to opposing players (and attendant refs) endeared him to fans while making him deeply loathable to his rivals.

All that said, the veteran has backed off a bit in his NBA middle age.

Now 29, the 6-foot-10 Arkansas product had been averaging 13.0 points on a .456/.321/.727 slash line, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 dimes a night heading into Milwaukee's Saturday night matchup against the Washington Wizards.

Prior to that battle, Portis had notched just a single technical foul in his first 17 games for the Bucks, according to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

When Portis was ejected with a technical foul in Game 4 of the Bucks' first round series against the Indiana Pacers last spring, he saw it as a major turning point with regards to how he would handle his emotions going forward. As Owczarski notes, this marked the first time Portis has ever spoken about the incident.

“It was a big moment in my career,” Portis said. “Nobody knows how it feels to, you know, get your arm held, get beat up – I get beat up every night – people hit me, I get knocked down on the court, I don’t get fouls called for me. You get whooped every night, right, but nobody feel sorry. I’m not trying to make anybody feel sorry for me but it’s kind of like the nature of the beast.

“Nobody knows what it feels like to get ejected from a big game, sitting in the locker room from eight minutes left in the first quarter to first quarter ends to second quarter ends and the team comes in at halftime and you’re still sitting there in the locker room. Then the game ends, the team loses, you go down 3-1. So you come back Game 5 and try to make a splash and win the game but then it’s like you’re down 3-2. How many times can you come back from 3-1? So, it’s kind of like a mind (expletive) sometimes,” Portis continued.

According to Owczarski, Portis' 17 technical fouls ranked second in the entire NBA last year. This season, he is consciously striving to avoid anything comparable to that sum.

“This year I took a different approach,” Portis said.. “Kind of like starting to see how many technical fouls I could not get. It’s been kind of tough though. I gotta get back to being me.”

“It’s tough only because you want to build in the right way and you want to do the right things and you don’t want to make the same mistakes and you don’t want to get technical fouls and give guys points,” Portis allowed. “But sometimes, f--- man, we need it... You know what I’m saying? Sometimes I’ll get a hard foul and it might spark something, you good? I’ve always been that kind of way."

What matters most, though, is still what Portis can give players when he's on the floor. Per Owczarski, head coach Doc Rivers quickly realized just how lethal of a weapon Portis could be for Milwaukee.

"It took me about five games, it was early, where I had a coaches meeting and I said, 'hey, Bobby Portis can freakin' score — we're gonna feature him," Rivers told Owczarski. "I asked why he hadn't been featured and everybody had their reasons and I said, 'well, when Bobby comes in the game, I want Bobby to be Bobby. We're going to give him the ball.'"

Milwaukee's season has already had severe highs and lows. The Bucks went a brutal 2-8 to open the year, notching the 19th best offensive rating and the 22nd best defensive rating in the league. Across their last eight contests, however, they've gone 7-1. The Bucks' defensive and offensive ratings during that stretch both rank seventh-best in the NBA. Traditionally, league championship-level teams needs to secure top-10 ratings on both sides of the ball, so this is a positive development. Portis has never been much of a defender, but him shoring up his shooting is critical to his squad's continued success as the season heads into its third month.

Will a more reserved Portis ultimately prove costly to the club's momentum, as Portis fears is possible? Time will tell.

More Bucks: Star Giannis Antetokounmpo Lands on Injury Report Ahead of Bucks vs Wizards