The NBA has banned Toronto’s Jontay Porter for life after he violated the league’s guidelines around gambling.
The league says its investigation found Porter disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, limited his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and bet on NBA games.
All three are prohibited under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.
“The league’s investigation found that prior to the Raptors’ March 20 game, Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor,” the league said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sportsbook, to win $1.1 million, wagering Porter would underperform in the March 20 game.”
A proposition bet is a wager not tied to the final score or outcome of a game that is often tied to an aspect of a player’s performance.
According to the NBA, Porter played only three minutes in the March 20 game before leaving citing illness.
In addition, from January through March 2024, while travelling with the Raptors or Raptors 905 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.
The suspicious bets were brought to the NBA’s attention by licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets.
“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 announcing the ban.
“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, 24, joined the Raptors this season on a two-way contract and appeared in 26 games, making five starts. The six-foot-11 centre averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 13.8 minutes this season.
Files from The Associated Press were used in this report