NBA hands Porter lifetime ban
LOS ANGELES: The NBA banned Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life on Wednesday after a bombshell probe found he bet on league matches — dubbed a “cardinal sin” by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
The league said that Porter, who spent part of his season in the NBA and part of it in the developmental G League, also shared private information on his fitness with a sports bettor and removed himself from a game to influence wagers on his own play.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” Silver said in a statement.
The league said its investigation remains open and it is sharing information with federal prosecutors regarding the matter.
The league launched an investigation into Porter, younger brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr, in March following reports of suspicious betting patterns in games he was involved in.
The 24-year-old has not played since March 22, shortly before an ESPN report gave details of alleged irregularities in games in which he played.
The league said it found that prior to the Raptors’ March 20 game, Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health status “to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor”.
The league continued: “Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an US$80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1 million, wagering that Porter would underperform in the March 20 game.”
In that same game, Porter played just three minutes before saying that he felt ill. “Due to the unusual betting activity and actions of the player, the $80,000 proposition bet was frozen and was not paid out.”
In addition, the league said, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games from January through March of this year while travelling with either the Raptors or their G League affiliate Raptors 905.
He used an associate’s online betting account to make wagers ranging in size from $15 to $22,000 for a total of $54,094 and resulted in net winnings of $21,965.
None of the bets involved any game in which Porter played, but three of the bets were multi-game parlay bets that included one Raptors game and he bet on the Raptors to lose.
Porter appeared i n 26 games, including five starts, for the Raptors this season, averaging 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri, speaking to reporters at an end-of-season press conference on Wednesday, said the investigation took him by surprise.
“You don’t want this for one for the kid, you don’t want this for our team, and we don’t want this for our league,” Ujiri said. “That’s for sure.
“You prepare for all kinds of situations in the NBA, but definitely didn’t see this coming,” he added. “But we act in accordance of what the NBA rules and regulations are of dealing with things like this and we move forward with it.”
Since the US Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on sports gambling in 2018, a majority of US states have legalised online sports betting. Pro sports leagues have enthusiastically partnered with the industry while continuing to prohibit their players from betting on their own leagues and otherwise restricting how they can wager.
Silver has been an advocate of legalising and regulating sports wagering but said in Wednesday’s announcement that the Porter case indicates that further regulatory measures may be needed. “While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players,” Silver said.