The NBA has imposed a lifetime ban on Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter for breaching the league’s gambling policy by manipulating his own gameplay to affect betting outcomes.
The investigation began in late March when officials observed unusual patterns in proposition bets involving Porter. Unlike traditional bets, proposition bets focus on individual player statistics rather than the final game result.
Porter was found to have disclosed confidential health information to an NBA bettor before the March 20 game. This bettor then placed an $80,000 parlay with an online sportsbook, wagering that Porter would underperform. Porter sat out the game, citing illness, and the $1.1 million payout was frozen due to suspicious betting patterns. Online sports betting operators and a monitoring organization alerted the NBA about these bets.
The league concluded that Porter intentionally limited his participation to influence the game’s outcome. Additionally, he was discovered to have placed 13 bets totaling $54,094 on NBA games using another person’s account. While none of these bets were on games he played in, three multi-game parlays included one Raptors game each.
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/h2TIkaE7xs
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 17, 2024