Bucks forward Bobby Portis has a special relationship with Milwaukee
Bucks fan favorite Bobby Portis says Milwaukee has changed his life.
Bill Schulz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
For over an hour on Aug. 12, Bobby Portis Jr., members of the Milwaukee Bucks front office and organizational staff and fellow volunteers packed boxes at Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin at 1700 W. Fond du Lac Ave. to send out to local pantries to aid in flood relief efforts – highlighting the mission of Feeding America but also illustrating Portis’ new role as a member of its board of directors.
Portis became involved with Feeding America after the Bucks’ championship in 2021 and gradually realized he wanted to take on a more substantive role in supporting its food security efforts – even if his NBA career took him out of Milwaukee.
A free agent over the summer, there was a chance the 30-year-old could have signed elsewhere. But even if he had, he insisted he would still have feet on the ground in Wisconsin with Feeding America.
“It was bigger than just my contract with the Bucks,” he said of his partnership with Feeding America, which began in the 2021-22 season.
“I’ve always had dreams of giving back and spreading my blessings with others and I say it all the time, but I really live that. It’s been a great partnership through and through. We’ve done a ton of great things together and I’m excited for our future.”
Feeding America president and CEO Patti Habeck said Portis’ inclusion on the board is not perfunctory and that he has been, and will continue to be, a strong hand not only in raising awareness of food insecurity, but in helping the organization continue to address the issue adeptly.
“Lived experience really matters in this work and Bobby brings that, but more importantly than that Bobby brings a viewpoint, ideas, strategy to our board that we do not have without Bobby being a part of it. This isn’t just a title that we offered Bobby, or just a figurehead position that we invite him and he never shows. Bobby is there doing the work with our board, engaging with our board of directors, asking the questions, diving deep into all pieces that any member would. This is really important to us. We put Bobby on the board to bring us perspective and he’s delivering on that perspective.”
Bucks and Fiserv Forum president Peter Feigin said his organization has had a partnership with Feeding America for the past decade – Bucks senior vice president of corporate social responsibility Arvind Gopalratnam was also on its board of directors – but having an active player joining a board signals a different type of leadership.
“I feel like I’m from Milwaukee, yeah,” Portis said. “I really rock with Milwaukee, though. Ain’t many players can say they really rock with Milwaukee. You come here, people may not like it, but I really rock with the city. I’m really in the city, giving back, putting my all into the kids and the community. I really care. Not many people care more than I do. Not just with basketball, but for others that don’t play the game, that’s not fortunate to come to the game, we do a lot of things that help impact lives. It’s bigger than hoops. It’s bigger than sports.
“Sports is what we do to help inspire, to help have the platform, but off the court it gives us the platform to inspire and give back as well. It’s been fun just to use basketball as a tool to help me do what I’ve always been doing, which is spreading my blessings.”
This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.