The NBA announced Wednesday the ban of Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, who the league said provided information to bettors and bet on basketball games.
The league said an investigation found Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online betting account, ranging from $15 to $22,000, for a total of 54 000 dollars. Porter’s betting winnings totaled $76,059, with net winnings of $21,965. Although none of the bets involved a game Porter played in, he bet that the Raptors would lose.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competitions for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Wednesday. “This is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our playing rules are met with the most severe sanction.”
Mark Bartelstein, Porter’s agent, did not immediately respond to a phone message from Athleticism looking for comments.
What led to Porter’s ban? Here’s a timeline of the events that made Porter the first NBA player banned from the league for gambling in 70 years.
Porter’s path to the NBA
Porter’s lone season at Missouri was productive. He was named to the 2018 SEC All-Freshman team and earned SEC Sixth Man of the Year honors. However, Porter, the younger brother of NBA champion and Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., tore his ACL and MCL during a scrimmage in October 2018 and was forced to miss his second season with the Tigers.
While recovering from his injury, Jontay Porter tore his ACL again in March 2019, but still decided to enter his name into the 2019 NBA Draft. After going undrafted, the Memphis Grizzlies signed Porter in March 2020, but he did not see any game action as he rehabbed from his second ACL injury. In November 2020, the Grizzlies re-signed Porter to a multi-year contract. But in July 2021, Memphis waived Porter, who averaged 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
Porter then spent time in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd and Motor City Cruise before signing a two-way deal with Toronto and the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League affiliate, in December 2023.
The 24-year-old forward averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games and five starts in Toronto.
Porter Initial Investigation Report (March 25, 2024)
According to an ESPN report, the NBA was investigating two Toronto Raptors games — Jan. 26 against the LA Clippers and March 20 against the Sacramento Kings — specifically prop bets tied to Porter’s stats.
Athleticism confirmed that Porter was not with the team when news of the investigation became public.
Porter didn’t score or attempt a shot, but grabbed three rebounds and had an assist in four minutes against the Clippers. Porter did not score against the Kings in his three minutes on the court, although he attempted one shot and had two rebounds.
Porter’s prop bets have been the most lucrative bets in two different nights of NBA action since January, when the under 0.5 from 3-point range reached -120 on January 26 and March 20 , when his props were the biggest moneymakers that night. the NBA, according to DraftKings Sportsbook Insights.
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NBA investigating Raptors’ Porter for betting issues
Raptors respond to Porter investigation (March 26, 2024)
“I think it’s simple: Stay away from the basketball stuff,” Toronto forward Jordan Nwora said before his team lost 96-88 to the Brooklyn Nets. “And other than that, you’re good.” This is what we learned from it. It’s been the same since university.
“It’s crazy. It’s just part of our sport now. It’s something that’s weird right now,” Raptors swingman Ochai Agbaji said. “I feel like sports betting has always been around, but it hasn’t been that popular since… ever, so it’s getting more and more popular, and obviously you’re going to have stuff like that. And it’s unfortunate, but things like this are going to happen, especially when things are so close – like sports betting, gambling, and sports itself. …You see it everywhere.
“At the end of the day, guys are always going to ask you when you go to the barbershop or when you’re walking around town, guys who are betting might ask, ‘Who’s playing tonight?'” Garrett Temple, Nationals vice president Basketball Players Association, said. “Obviously, it’s something that, as a veteran or as a player, you (say), ‘I don’t know who’s playing tonight, man.’
“You have to come to the game and watch. Jokes like that to make things light and we move on. Maybe this is something that as APs we need to spend more time teaching guys how to handle these things.
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Raptors respond to Jontay Porter gambling investigation: ‘It’s just part of our sports now’
Silver calls Porter allegations a ‘cardinal sin’ (April 10, 2024)
Silver made his first public comments on the Porter investigation during a news conference following the league’s annual Board of Governors meetings.
“It’s a cardinal sin what he’s accused of in the NBA,” Silver said.
“The final, extreme option I have is to ban him from the game,” Silver said. “That’s the level of authority I have here because there’s nothing more serious in this league when it comes to playing around our games than direct player involvement. The investigation is ongoing but the consequences could be serious.
NBA players cannot bet on the NBA, according to a copy of the player conduct memo reviewed by Athleticismand cannot manipulate or influence games – also called rigged games – or fail to perform to the best of their abilities for any reason related to betting.
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Adam Silver says Jontay Porter faces permanent ban
Porter is banned (April 17, 2024)
After the conclusion of the NBA’s investigation, Silver exercised his commissioner’s right to impose on Porter the extreme penalty of a ban from the league.
According to the results of a league investigation, Porter allegedly gave confidential health information to a person he knew as a sports bettor before the Raptors’ March 20 game against Sacramento. A third person, related to both Porter and the original recipient of Porter’s health information, placed an $80,000 bet to win $1.1 million, a bet that relied on the prediction that Porter would under -would perform against the Kings.
To ensure the gamble was successful, the league said, Porter withdrew from the Sacramento game after just three minutes, claiming he was ill.
Porter was making $415,000 on his two-way contract with the Raptors this season. He is the first active player or coach to be kicked out of the NBA for gambling since Jack Molinas in 1954. Most recently, Silver handed out a significant drug suspension to OJ Mayo in 2016, which effectively kept him out of the league , and he banned the Clippers owner. Donald Sterling in 2014 and forced him to sell the team for making racist remarks that were made public.
GO FURTHER
NBA bans Jontay Porter for violating playing rules
(Photo: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)