No bets were on basketball
Toronto Raptors’ center Jontay Porter, currently under investigation by the NBA for his potential role in betting irregularities, reportedly wagered millions of dollars online from 2021 to 2023. According to Action Network, Porter “owned and operated” a FanDuel VIP account in Colorado from which millions of dollars in bets originated.
One of Action Network’s multiple sources said that FanDuel did not accept any basketball bets from Porter. It is not clear if that wording is intentional, whether it means that Porter did not attempt to bet on the NBA or college basketball, or if FanDuel simply wouldn’t take his bets on those markets.
He was firing all of the time.”
Regardless, the source said he made over 1,000 bets, adding, “He was firing all of the time.”
During most of that time period, Porter played in the NBA’s developmental league, or “G-League.” His brother, Michael Porter, Jr., has been on the Denver Nuggets since 2018, which is likely related to why the wagers were placed in Colorado. Jontay Porter also played for the Nuggets’ 2022 Summer League team, though those games were in Las Vegas.
All punishments are on the table
Last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that a lifetime ban is possible if Jontay Porter is found to have manipulated games for gambling reasons.
Addressing the media after the NBA’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.”
The league’s investigation is ongoing and at this point, nothing has come out to indicate that Porter is guilty of anything.
the consequences could be very severe”
Hopefully it’s all nothing, but Silver is prepared to bring down the hammer, adding: “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.”
Suspicious betting activity
The league’s investigation revolves around two games in which Porter and the Raptors played this season, both of which raised red flags at sportsbooks for unusually heavy wagering on the unders for Porter prop bets.
Porter under bets were locks
The first game was on January 26, 2024 against the L.A. Clippers. The over/under for Porter props was 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.5 made three pointers, modest numbers for a player on a two-way contract coming off the bench. Porter ended up leaving the game after four minutes because of an alleged flare up of a previous eye injury. With that little time in the game, the Porter under bets were locks.
It was a similar story on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings. The over/under was a little higher for Porter this time – 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds – but again, he exited the game early. After three minutes, he allegedly complained about feeling sick and left the contest.
In both instances, DraftKings publicly announced that the Porter unders were the most profitable for bettors those nights. ESPN reported that a betting was abnormal for Porter unders in those games; sportsbook limits are usually $1,000-$2,000 for player props, but some customers wanted to bet ten times that much.
“People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props,” a sportsbook source told ESPN.
