NBA
THE NBA LIFETIME BAN OF JONTAY PORTER FOR VIOLATING GAMBLING RULES, EXPLAINED
Porter allegedly placed over 1,000 wagers at a sportsbook. What was he thinking?
Apr 19, 2024
No one really wants to talk about it, but with the rise of legal sports gambling in North America, a player, coach, or owner was bound to receive a permanent ban at some point—it was as inevitable as something going wrong with one of your recent DoorDash orders. Seriously, how could they forget the guacamole?
The NBA took action on Wednesday, banning Jontay Porter for life due to his involvement in gambling activities. The league's ongoing investigation revealed that the former Raptors forward had placed bets on NBA games and collaborated with another individual to manipulate prop bets by deliberately underperforming and exiting games under the guise of illness.
The news of Porter's ban did not come as a surprise to anyone in the league.
“The Jontay Porter bets were flagged by one of the ‘integrity’ companies used by these leagues to note irregular betting,” says Villanova University sports law professor Andrew Brandt. “Now Porter is banished, and the NBA can claim integrity and simply remove a rogue player that transgressed.”
WHO IS JONTAY PORTER
In case you have never seen Porter play, he has split time between the G-League and the Toronto Raptors over the last couple of years. He is the younger brother of the Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., who was a lottery pick and signed a five-year, $179 million.
Jontay Porter was a five-star recruit out of high school, joining his older brother at Missouri. While at
Missouri, he faced a series of setbacks, tearing his ACL and MCL during a scrimmage in October 2018 while at Missouri. His challenges continued when he tore his ACL again during rehabilitation in early 2019. Despite these setbacks, he decided to enter the 2019 NBA Draft, where he went undrafted.
Afterward, he played in the G League before signing a two-way contract with the Raptors in December, which earned him a prorated salary of over $400,000.
WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
Porter allegedly placed over 1,000 wagers at the sportsbook. “He was firing all of the time,” a source said.
In a statement, the NBA said it found that Porter had disclosed "confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes."
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added in the NBA's statement. "Which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment."
"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. Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game."
THE UNDERRATED OPINION
The allegations against Porter are not surprising, as problems with sports gambling were inevitable as Thanos. Based on the evidence, I suspect that Adam Silver and the NBA are imposing a true lifetime ban, not the kind of vague suspension that Draymond Green might receive for being a hothead.
