The past few weeks haven’t been good to Jontay Porter after he was caught disclosing information to sports bettors and betting on actual games. As a result, the NBA dropped the hammer on the Toronto Raptors forward and banned him for life.
Porter first entered the NBA in 2020 after not being selected in the 2019 Draft, the same one that saw the New Orleans Pelicans pick Zion Williamson at the top. The Memphis Grizzlies signed him to a multi-year contract in November of that year, only for the franchise to waive him eight months later. In the 11 games he played for them, Porter averaged 2.0 points and 1.3 rebounds.
After playing in the G League, Porter received a two-way contract from the Toronto Raptors last December. The brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. went on to play 26 games for the Eastern Conference team, five of which he did as a starter. During that period, he tallied 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
In March of this year, though, the league discovered that Porter was handing out confidential information about his health status to a sports bettor. He also manipulated his productivity during games to match bets based on his performance. As a result, the NBA took notice and acted on Porter’s suspicious activity right away.
Toronto Raptors Issue Statement on Jontay Porter’s Gambling Scandal
Just recently, the NBA banned Porter from playing or participating in any league-related activities for the rest of his life. The Toronto Raptors issued a response, as seen in a post shared by Vivek Jacob on X:
Raptors have released a statement regarding Jontay Porter:
“The Raptors are fully supportive of the league’s decision to ban Jontay Porter from the NBA and are grateful for the swift resolution to this investigation. We will continue to cooperate with all ongoing inquiries,” Jacob tweeted.
Porter’s punishment comes at a time when the NBA has chosen to incorporate sports betting into its system. Even Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton have noted the effects of betting on games and how they play in them.
With the league dropping the hammer on Michael Porter Jr.’s brother, players from all over the NBA will be more wary of engaging in these illegal activities. Hopefully, incidents of this kind won’t happen again to protect the integrity of the sport and the people behind it.
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