Raptors centre Porter gets lifetime ban from NBA for gambling violations

Jontay Porter has been banned from the NBA for life.

The Toronto Raptors backup centre’s punishment was announced on Wednesday after the NBA completed its investigation into gambling allegations against Porter.

The league found that Porter violated its rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games. All three are prohibited under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

The Raptors said in a statement they supported the league’s decision and will co-operate with any ongoing inquiries.

“We did all due diligence and I think from all the reports and everything we had, I think this was nothing we could know about,” Raptors team president Masai Ujiri said an hour before Porter’s ban was announced. “I think all of that is under the NBA’s investigation.”

Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, in 13.8 minutes over 26 games with Toronto this season. He was playing more minutes with Toronto in March after starting centre Jakob Poeltl sustained a season-ending hand injury.

The NBA’s investigation found that Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health to an individual he knew to be a bettor before the Raptors’ game against the Sacramento Kings on March 20.

Another person that Porter associated with and knew to be an NBA bettor then placed an $80,000 US parlay prop bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1 million, wagering that Porter would underperform in the 123-89 loss to Sacramento.