On Wednesday, 17 April 2017, the NBA announced it was banning Jontay Porter. Porter, according to an announcement from the league, “violated rules” by disclosing information to bettors and limiting himself to one or several games to facilitate betting. He also placed NBA wagers. ”
It is the first suspension of a NBA player due to a violation of gambling laws since May 2018, when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was repealed. Porter is the 12th athlete to have been sanctioned since 2018 by a major North American sport league. Last summer, the NFL suspended ten players and in 2023, the NHL suspended one.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that “there is no greater importance than protecting the integrity and fairness of NBA competition, for all of us, including our fans, teams, players, officials, sponsors, etc.,” which is why Jontay’s violation of the gaming rules was met with severe punishment.
NBA gambling policy forbids betting or wagering on NBA properties or the NBA itself, in any jurisdictions where it is prohibited.
Porter shares NBA betting information
The NBA conducted an investigation and found Porter had shared with a well-known NBA bettors “confidential” information about his health before a game on 20 March. A second Porter associate bet $80,000 on a parlay that would pay out $1.1m. Porter “limited” his participation in the game, the league claims, to influence the result of the wager. Parlays were flagged and not paid at that time.
Porter also placed 13 NBA bets over a three-month period from January to March 2024, while travelling with the Raptors G-League or Raptors team. Porter bet on NBA games using the account of another individual.
Porter wagered $54,094 in total and won $21,965. Bets ranged from $15 to $22,000. Porter did not play in any of the games where bets were made. All three parlays lost, and one of them included the Raptors.
The system works by flagging bets that are suspicious
NBA has not revealed which operators placed the bets, but DraftKings has reported suspicious activities on two separate bets between January and March. Porter had also previously been reported as a FanDuel Elite member, however that account closed after Porter joined the Raptors. The NBA released a statement stating that “sports betting operators”, and an integrity monitoring company, alerted them to suspicious activities around the game on 20 March.
Silver stated that “While legalized sports betting helps to identify suspicious or unusual activity, it also raises questions regarding the current regulatory framework, such as the type of bets placed on our players and games.”
The league didn’t indicate the location of bets. Porter spent some time in Colorado where Michael Porter Jr. plays for the Denver Nuggets. He also played basketball in Ontario where single event wagering will be available on 4 April 2022. Colorado began accepting wagers in May 2020. Last week, Colorado regulators ordered that operators share any information they have about bets made by Jontay porter.
Silver warned last week that there would be harsh penalties if Porter was found betting on basketball, or to have violated gambling laws.
