In the latest episode of the Yahoo Sports podcast, senior NBA insider Chris Haynes spoke with Milwaukee Bucks C Bobby Portis about what makes playing Milwaukee different from his previous stops in Chicago and New York. Hear the full conversation on the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
CHRIS HAYNES: BP, when you look at this Milwaukee team, I think when you– the summertime, I’m pretty sure– I don’t know if you’re listening to predictions and people talking about the teams that’s gonna compete. But I think a lot of people forget that the Milwaukee Bucks were not whole–
BOBBY PORTIS: Yeah.
CHRIS HAYNES: –in this past playoff. And you lost in the second round to the Boston Celtics, who ends up going to the NBA Finals to face the Warriors. Are you over how the season ended? Like, how did you cope with that? You know, how are you adapting to that now?
BOBBY PORTIS: To answer the first part of your question, it’s Milwaukee, bro. Nobody talks about Milwaukee, bro.
CHRIS HAYNES: Yep, that’s true.
BOBBY PORTIS: Let’s just keep it real. We won’t have enough drama going on here where we’re like, we got to– we just a bunch of humble guys that come in every day, play for the name of the front of the jersey, play for each other. Like, we’re not the LAs of the world. We’re not the Chicagos of the world. We’re not the New Yorks of the world. There’s not much media attention here.
I told guys all the time, like, bro, we got whooped about 20 tonight by Denver, bro. If it was in New York, bro, it’ll get wicked, bro.
CHRIS HAYNES: Yeah.
BOBBY PORTIS: But you get booed. Don’t wanna get booed or nothing. So, like, you got to take that into consideration too. But to answer your question, man, like, obviously, you know, everybody says, oh, if we had Chris, we would’ve have won, this and that. They always throw that narrative out there. But, to me, man, it’s all about just it wasn’t our time. They played better basketball than we did. They made more shots than we did in the series. They got their 50-50 ball. One shot they made was a 3, and it was like a gut punch, you know? So just things like that.
So, obviously, you know, I’ve been working hard, trying to get my body right, trying to get ready and prep for the next year. Because, obviously, when you get to the Championship and you get to the mountaintop, obviously, you want to get back there. And I think that’s one of our drives, one of our inspiration, for sure. But we just fell short last year. We ain’t got no complaints. We gave it all we had. We took on the seven games, and we came down to the wire. It was a hell of a series to play and fun, definitely do that again for sure.
CHRIS HAYNES: You talked about Milwaukee not getting a lot of attention because there’s not a lot of– there’s not a lot of drama going on–
BOBBY PORTIS: Yeah–
CHRIS HAYNES: With the team.
BOBBY PORTIS: –ain’t much going on out here.
CHRIS HAYNES: Yeah. But you’ve been on teams with drama, Chicago and New York.
BOBBY PORTIS: Woo wee.
CHRIS HAYNES: [LAUGHS] Like–
BOBBY PORTIS: I mean, I’ve been in a lot of drama in places, a lot of drama. I remember they cracked the narrative, the is it Jimmy’s team? Is it D Rose team? I remember that narrative they–
CHRIS HAYNES: But how refreshing is that, BP, like, to go from situations like that, where there were chaos on a regular, to being in the place where, like you said, like, you can get blew out by 20 one night, at home, and you won’t get booed.
BOBBY PORTIS: C’mon, bro, like–
CHRIS HAYNES: There’s a different love there.
BOBBY PORTIS: Man, it’s crazy. Like, I remember, it was, like, January last year, bro. I can remember it vividly. So we got our butts whooped, bro, to Denver in that. They smacked us. They smacked us. I ain’t gonna lie, they smacked us, coach. Like, we had beat them in Denver in December. Then we come back in January and we loose to them. I’m talking about they beat u– they whooped us.
And I’m going through the tunnel thing and we’re gonna to get booed or something. But that what I’m used to. I’m used to getting booed.
CHRIS HAYNES: Yeah.
BOBBY PORTIS: I’m used to, like, we lose by 30 in Chicago or New York. It’s, yeah, like, come on, get in the gym. like, what are we doing?
CHRIS HAYNES: Yeah.
BOBBY PORTIS: I’m used to that. But then, when I’m walking through the tunnel and stuff, I’m like, people are saying, oh, it’s gonna be OK. We’ll get him–
[LAUGHTER]
–next game. And I’m like, damn, oh– oh, my God. Bring the stage in.
CHRIS HAYNES: And that’s what I’m saying. Hey,
BOBBY PORTIS: That’s how you go.
CHRIS HAYNES: Find you a mate that loves you like Buck fans love their team. Love their players right there, man.
BOBBY PORTIS: Love you, man. They love beer, and love sports out here.
CHRIS HAYNES: That’s what’s up, beer and sports.
BOBBY PORTIS: [INAUDIBLE] they love that little beer and sports.
[LAUGHTER]
