The NBA has issued a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter after he was found to have broken the league’s strict gaming rules.
A league investigation found Toronto’s two-way player both disclosed confidential health information to sports bettors and gambled on games himself.
Porter, the league said, gave a bettor information about his own health status prior to Toronto’s game on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings.
The league said another individual, known to be an NBA bettor, placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1million.
Porter took himself out of that game after only a few minutes, claiming illness, none of his stats meeting the totals set in the parlay. The bet was frozen and not paid out, and the NBA started an investigation.
The NBA has issued a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter for breaking the league’s gaming rules
The league also determined that Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using someone else’s account. The bets ranged from $15 to $22,000; the total wagered was $54,094 and generated a payout of $76,059, or net winnings of $21,965.
Those wagers did not involve any game in which Porter played, the NBA said. But three of the wagers were multi-game parlays, including a bet where Porter – who was not playing in the games involved – wagered on the Raptors to lose. All three of those bets lost.
Porter, the brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., signed a two-way contract with the Raptors on December 8. He earned $415,000 this season and has brought in $2.8m in career NBA earnings so far.
‘You don’t want this for the kid, you don’t want this for our team and we don’t want this for our league, that’s for sure,’ Raptors President Masai Ujiri said Wednesday in Toronto, speaking shortly before the NBA announced Porter’s ban.
‘My first reaction is obviously surprise, because none of us, I don’t think anybody, saw this coming.’
The league has partnerships and other relationships with more than two dozen gaming companies, many of whom advertise during NBA games in a variety of ways. Commissioner Adam Silver himself has been a longtime proponent of legal sports wagering, but the league has very strict rules for players and employees regarding betting.
And what Porter was found to have done was in violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which states: ‘Any Player who, directly or indirectly, wagers money or anything of value on any game or event in the Association or in the NBA G League shall, on being charged with such wagering, be given an opportunity to answer such charges after due notice, and the decision of the Commissioner shall be final, binding, and conclusive and unappealable.’
Porter disclosed information about his own health to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor
An NBA statement read: ‘The NBA announced today that Jontay Porter, a two-way player recently under contract with the Toronto Raptors, has been banned from the NBA.
‘A league investigation found that Porter violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.
‘The league’s investigation 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.
‘Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1million, wagering that Porter would underperform in the March 20 game.
‘The league’s investigation also found that Porter limited his own game participation to influence the outcome of one or more bets on his performance in at least one Raptors game.
‘In the March 20 game, Porter played only three minutes, claiming 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, from January through March 2024, while traveling with the Raptors or Raptors 905, the Raptors’ NBA G League affiliate, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online betting account.
‘These bets ranged in size from $15 to $22,000, for a total of $54,094. The total payout from these bets was $76,059, resulting in net winnings of $21,965. None of the bets involved any game in which Porter played. 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.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said ‘Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment’
‘The suspicious bets involving Porter’s performance in the Raptors’ March 20 game were brought to the NBA’s attention by licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets.
‘These findings are based on the information available to league investigators at this time. The league’s investigation remains open and may result in further findings. The NBA has shared and will continue to share information with federal prosecutors about this matter.’
Porter has not commented since the investigation began, and never played for the Raptors again – he was listed as out for all of Toronto’s games for the remainder of the season citing personal reasons.
He becomes the second person to be banned by Silver for violating league rules. The other was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014, shortly after Silver took office.
Silver said: ‘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.
‘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 24-year-old Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games, including five starts. He also played in 11 games for Memphis in the 2020-21 season.
