Milwaukee Bucks power forward Bobby Portis can get heated on the court, and he showed that fiery side during a moment in a game against the reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder at Fiserv Forum on Jan. 21.
In the third quarter of that contest, the former Arkansas Razorbacks star Portis was caught planting an elbow on Oklahoma City guard Cason Wallace, who retaliated. Portis was called for a flagrant foul for his action, while Wallace was slapped with a technical.
Bucks’ Portis speaks up on altercation with Thunder’s Wallace
Several weeks later, Portis was able to clear the air about that altercation during an appearance on “Run It Back.”
Apparently, the 31-year-old Portis had no issue with Wallace in the first place, but he felt he had to hurt someone on the Thunder to send a strong message amid his frustration against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in particular.
“So what happened was like all game bro, SGA had been like grown man’s shoulder and everybody, like go to the drive, he’ll blow by you and like he’ll let you catch up and then he’ll like throw his shoulder and do that. And then in the second half, he started being more of an arm bar, throw you off with his arm.
And I’m like, ‘Hey ref,’ like one time he did it to me on the left wing, you pull it up. Left wing baseline, drove baseline. He kinda like pushed me off and I kinda tripped and fell. So that just made me mad. Like I’m talking about, and I’m on the ground looking at the ref like, ‘Hey bro, like really, bro?’ And he didn’t wanna say nothing, like he was like, oh,’I don’t know’. So I’m like, ‘all right, bet,’ next play, whoever close to me finally get a grown man’s shoulder down the court, like I don’t even care.”
Portis’ never-back-down mentality is nice to have for Milwaukee, which continues to rely on him to provide toughness on the floor.
For what it’s worth, Portis and the Bucks lost that game, 122-102. He stuffed the stat sheets with 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds and a steal, while shooting 6/14 from the field.
Nov 17, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) celebrates his three-point basket in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
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