Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter has been at the center of a massive betting scandal that’s rocked the NBA.
Porter was hit with a lifetime ban from the NBA following an investigation into suspicious activity from the 24-year-old earlier in the regular season. But one bet, in particular, was particularly damning and made Porter’s lifetime ban absolutely deserved.
1 Unforgivable Bet Made Jontay Porter’s NBA Ban A No-Brainer
Porter on Wednesday was hit with a lifetime ban from the NBA after the league conducted a comprehensive investigation into his gambling accusations.
Details have emerged on Porter’s unscrupulous betting activity in recent months. Perhaps the most unforgivable accusation is that Porter bet on the Toronto Raptors — his own team — to lose.
Most damning for Porter and the NBA itself: He bet the Raptors to lose, according to league’s investigation. https://t.co/6oKyi0Fhty
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 17, 2024
Porter betting against his own team clearly hurts the integrity of the game. It’s not made clear which Raptors game Porter reportedly bet on, but there was a lengthy stretch of games earlier in the season when Porter became a prominent part of the rotation due to injuries.
Porter could have very well intentionally underperformed and hurt the on-court product.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Was More Than Ready To Ban Jontay Porter
During a press conference last week, Silver had hinted that he was more than open to using the “ultimate extreme option” on Porter if he were deemed guilty of the “cardinal sin.”
“I have enormous range of discipline available to me,” Silver said in the news conference. “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.
“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 and betting on our games, and that is a direct player involvement. The investigation is ongoing, but the consequences could be very severe.”
Silver wasn’t bluffing.