The NBA league office rendered their decision on Wednesday afternoon. Two-way big man Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was found guilty of what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called “a cardinal sin”—betting on NBA games, disclosing insider information, and intentionally influencing his participation in an NBA game.
The details of what the NBA’s inquiry revealed about Porter and his behavior can be read in more detail here. When wildly erratic wagers were made on Porter ahead of a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 20, the investigation was sparked. Specifically, a punter wagered $80,000 on Porter’s “unders,” which would have paid out $1.1 million had Porter started the game but left before reaching certain markups in buckets, rebounds, and 3-pointers, among other box score categories.
Porter dropped out of the game after three minutes, stating he felt unwell. If the wager hadn’t been detected and the money withheld, it would have cashed out. The league came to the conclusion that Porter intentionally left the game to enable that wager and others of a similar nature to be profitable.
Porter dropped out of the game after three minutes, stating he felt unwell. If the wager hadn’t been detected and the money withheld, it would have cashed out. The league came to the conclusion that Porter intentionally left the game to enable that wager and others of a similar nature to be profitable.
But the investigation’s conclusions didn’t end there. They also found that Porter placed wagers on several games this season, including at least thirteen NBA wagers made via the use of a third party’s internet betting account. He did not wager on any of the games in which he participated, but he did wager on the Raptors to lose three separate times, and he was right. Porter wagered $54,000 in all, and he won $22,000 net from those wagers.
In response, the league imposed the worst punishment possible—a lifelong suspension from the NBA. It mirrored the seriousness and passion with which Adam Silver discussed the accusations made against Porter. This was to be expected given Silver’s remarks on the subject and the league’s previous handling of gambling punishments.
This lifelong ban is noteworthy since it will most likely remain in effect forever. The league does sometimes award lifetime bans; in the past, this has happened for serious substance abuse and gambling offenses, and more recently, it has happened for players who have been hit with numerous strikes for breaking the league’s rules regarding substance abuse and performance-enhancing drugs.
In most cases, players with recent “lifetime” bans serve their suspension for a year or two before applying to be reinstated. The Raptors’ bench guard Jalen Harris was banned in 2021 and then allowed to return in September 2022. Tyreke Evans received a ban in 2019 and was allowed to return a few years later. Two years after being “permanently” banned in 2006, Chris Anderson was allowed to return. O.J. Mayo was given a lifelong ban, but he was later eligible for reinstatement, so if an NBA team had been interested in signing him, he probably could have come back.
Whether or not Jontay Porter is found to be eligible to apply, he will not be reinstated. His actions were not an attempt to enhance his own performance, nor was it a violation of the league’s culture or reputation. He questioned the integrity of the game by deliberately influencing at least one of the games he participated in and placing bets on others. Eventually, a lack of integrity equals elimination from the NBA.
That’s the far-off destination that Porter can’t convince the league to reach, which is why Silver is sealing the gate at the beginning of that road instead of halfway there. When players were accused of point shaving or illicit betting in college, his predecessors acted similarly in the 1950s and 1960s; in all but one of those cases, their lifetime bans remained in place. After receiving bans, players like Doug Moe, Roger Brown, and Jack Molinas were never allowed to return to the NBA.
Connie Hawkins is the only player not barred for gambling; she had to sue the NBA to be let back into the league after being connected to a point shaving scandal. Porter would have little chance of doing the same, but he was able to do so since there wasn’t much concrete evidence against him. He carried out the alleged actions.
Porter is being singled out by Silver, who is also threatening the other players in the league. Any effort to manipulate game results or gamble on NBA games will result in an immediate and severe lifetime ban. Silver wants to end the conversation about gambling and the league’s profitable role in it, more than just preserving the integrity of the game.
There are still unanswered questions, such whether Denver Nuggets player and Jontay’s brother Michael Porter Jr. was involved. Which other players are following Porter’s lead? Given that Porter’s carelessness was probably the only factor in his capture, how can the league effectively control and put an end to this behavior?
Porter’s departure is not a huge loss, even though the Toronto Raptors would have like to retain him around and help him grow. While it hurts that Porter was able to profit from his wagers that the Raptors would lose, that was the main focus of this season.
It is quite unlikely that Jontay Porter will ever again don an NBA uniform. He’ll have to find somewhere else to continue his basketball career.
