NEWSLETTER
Commissioner Adam Silver officially banned Jontay Porter from the NBA on Wednesday.
The Toronto Raptors two-way forward was under investigation for suspicious betting activity. Large sums of money were wagered on Porter in two games earlier this season. Those bets were placed on the under, and they hit on both circumstances because Porter left those games early with differing injuries. DraftKings then reported that those bets saw the biggest payout that evening across the sportsbook. And it raised a major red flag.
What the NBA Found on Jontay Porter
Silver followed that red flag all the way to some shocking findings. In the league’s statement, they shared that Porter “disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor.” Another bettor Porter knew also placed $80,000 on a parlay that included Porter underperforming on March 20, and he ultimately netted $1.1 million.
More specifically, the league states that Porter purposely limited himself on March 20 to impact the outcome of the bets placed. This was the performance Porter left stating that he felt ill. But the scandal doesn’t stop there!
Porter also placed some of his own bets on NBA games between January and March. The league found 13 incidents where Porter used an associate’s online betting account to net nearly $22,000 in profits. While none of those bets included games Porter appeared in, he did at one point bet on the Raptors to lose!
Even if Porter may not have been a mainstay in the NBA, this is a MASSIVE story that will surely have ripple effects across the sports landscape. This has been one of the primary concerns when it comes to the legalization and popularization of sports betting. But that’s exactly why Adam Silver also isn’t pulling any punches.
Here’s what he had to say in the statement:
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of the 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 offers 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 discourse on this scandal is just beginning, so it’ll be fascinating to see where things go from here. If one thing is for sure, it’s that Silver has made an example out of Porter, and it’s clear the NBA will have zero tolerance for any suspicious activity.
