If an investigation concludes that the Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter intentionally influenced games in which he played for betting reasons, it could spell the end of his basketball career in the United States. On Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that a lifetime ban is on the table, depending on the findings of the investigation.
Speaking to the media after the league’s annual Board of Governors meetings, Silver said, “I have an enormous range of discipline available to me. But it’s a cardinal sin, what he’s accused of in the NBA, and the ultimate, extreme option I have is to ban him from the game.”
Silver continued: “That’s the level of authority I have here. Because there’s nothing more serious, I think, around this league when it comes to gambling: betting on our games. And that is a direct player involvement. And so, the investigation is ongoing, but the consequences could be very severe.”
To be clear, Jontay Porter has not been found to have done anything wrong, but circumstances surrounding two games this season have roused suspicion. He has not played since March 22.
In both games, there was unusually high betting volume and attempted wager amounts on Porter prop bets, specifically on the under. And in both games, Porter exited after playing just a handful of minutes.
The first game was on January 26 against the Los Angeles Clippers. The over/under on Porter props were 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.5 made three pointers. Porter, who averaged about 14 minutes per game on the season, left after just four minutes after allegedly reaggravating a previous eye injury. As such, he had no chance to log numbers of any significance and the unders hit easily.
It was a similar situation on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings. Sportsbooks had his over/under at 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, but after three minutes, he exited the game with an alleged illness.
After both games, DraftKings reported that Jontay Porter unders were the most successful bets for its customers.
Those two instances are maybe a little fishy, but don’t really mean anything in and of themselves. What really makes them suspicious, though, is that a sportsbook source told ESPN that there was oddly high betting on Porter unders. Sportsbooks tend to have limits of $1,000 or $2,000 on player prop bets. Some gamblers wanted to go as high as $20,000.
“People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers],” ESPN’s source said. “And then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more.”