Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter, the brother of Denver Nuggets champion Michael Porter Jr., has been under investigation by the NBA due to sports betting irregularities connected to him over the last several months. NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke to reporters on Wednesday during the league's Board of Governors press conference and addressed this serious issue, claiming that the league is not overlooking any aspect of this investigation.
Silver claimed that what Porter is accused of is being viewed as a “cardinal sin,” and he acknowledged that the punishment for any player found to be involved in gambling can extend to banishment from the NBA as a whole.
“I am always surprised in any individual circumstance. If you look at the history of sports betting, prior to the mass legalization, it was always legal in Las Vegas, but since the mass legalization of it in the United States, there have been incidents. We've had incidents, obviously with an official,” Silver said to reporters during his Wednesday press conference. “This is not new that there's unsavory behavior, even illegal behavior, around sports betting. I guess my point is that, to the extent that it's going to exist, that if you have a regulated environment that you're going to have a better chance of detecting it than you would if all the bets were placed illegally.
“To answer your question about the consequences, I have an enormous range of discipline available to me. But it's a cardinal sin what he's accused of in the NBA. 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 around this league when it comes to gambling and betting on our games with direct player involvement. The investigation is ongoing, but the consequences could be very severe.”
Jontay Porter's NBA investigation
The issue involving Porter centers around prop bets made for games played on Jan. 26 and March 20, according to ESPN. When the Raptors played the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 26, there was increased betting interest on the under for all of Porter's prop bets. Porter only played four total minutes in this game before leaving with what the team described as an eye injury he suffered in a previous game.
The following day, DraftKings Sportsbook reported that the under on Porter's three-pointer prop bet was the biggest money-winner for bettors of any NBA props from games that evening.
Then, on March 20, Porter played just three total minutes against the Phoenix Suns before he exited with what the Raptors said was an illness. Porter finished this game with no points and only two rebounds. Various sportsbooks had Porter's over/unders set at roughly 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for this contest. According to reports, his props were the best moneymaker from March 26 on DraftKings.
The NBA's investigation into Porter's connection with any possible sports gambling is ongoing. Silver did not comment on what stage of the investigation they were in or any new information they had discovered in connection with this gambling investigation.
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