The NBA has banned one of its players for life.
The decision comes after an investigation found Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter provided confidential information to sports bettors, limited his participation in games for betting purposes and bet on NBA games.
Porter offered the information about his own health status before Toronto’s game on March 20, the league said, while a known NBA bettor placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sportsbook.
Porter took himself out of that game after only a few minutes, claiming illness. That bet would have won $1.1 million.
“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,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“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.”
Porter, an undrafted player out of Missouri, briefly played for the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ G League team, in 2023. He’s averaged under four points per game in 37 games across two NBA seasons. He is the brother of Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr.
The NBA also said Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s account, with the bets ranging from $15 to $22,000, totaling $54,094. The NBA said the total payout from those bets was $76,059, a net winnings of $21,965.
None of Porter’s bets involved games in which he played, the NBA said. Three of his bets were multigame parlays that included one Raptors contest with Porter betting on a Toronto loss. All three bets lost, the NBA said.
The NBA is continuing to investigate.
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