Toronto Raptors star, Jontay Porter has been banned from the NBA for life for gambling against his team.
He was handed the punishment on Wednesday, April 17, after league investigators discovered that in March, Porter took part in a gambling scheme that ultimately called into question the integrity of the NBA’s competition.
League officials said the Toronto Raptors player not only bet on his own team to lose but also manipulated his play to tip the scales in his favour.
It was alleged that the 24-year-old gave confidential information about his health to at least one known bettor. They said another bettor Porter knew then placed an $80K wager that Porter “would underperform” in the Raptors’ March 20 tilt with the Sacramento Kings.
The league said the bettor stood to make $1.1 MILLION if the wager hit. NBA officials said Porter pulled himself from the contest early due to what he claimed was an illness. But, the league said that because of the “unusual betting activity”, the bet was “frozen” and “not paid out.”
Additionally, NBA investigators found that while Porter was playing for both the Raptors and their G-League affiliate from January through March, he made “at least 13 bets on NBA games.”
Porter reportedly used an associate’s online betting account to make the wagers and scored over $20,000 in profits. “None of the bets involved any game in which Porter played,” the league said in a statement. “Three of the bets were multi-game parlay bets that included one Raptors game, in which Porter bet that the Raptors would lose. All three bets lost.”
The NBA said they’re in contact with the feds and have promised to continue to investigate Porter and turn over any future findings. “There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport,” the NBA said, “which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment.”
Porter, who played his first NBA game in the 2020-21 season, has logged minutes in 37 contests in his career. This season, he started five total games for Toronto, tallying 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per tilt.
