The NBA has permanently banned Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter from the league for violating its gambling rules, as stated in a release on Wednesday. Following an internal investigation conducted by the NBA, it was revealed that Porter engaged in betting on NBA games, disclosed confidential information to other gamblers, and manipulated his participation in certain games to influence specific bets.
The league initiated its inquiry into Porter after a game on March 20th against the Sacramento Kings, during which Porter only played for three minutes before leaving due to reported illness. Prior to the game, Porter informed an individual known to be an NBA bettor about his health status. Subsequently, this individual placed an $80,000 parlay bet on the game, speculating that Porter would underperform. Unusual betting patterns flagged by sports betting operators and a gambling market monitoring organization prompted the NBA’s attention, leading to the freezing of the $80,000 wager, which would have otherwise yielded a $1.1 million payout.
The investigation further revealed that Porter placed bets on at least 13 NBA games using an associate’s account after joining the Raptors. While none of these bets were on games he participated in, three of them pertained to single Raptors games. During this period, Porter reportedly wagered $54,094, resulting in a $76,059 payout, according to the league’s findings.
Reports from Action Network indicate that Porter maintained an active VIP FanDuel account before joining the Raptors in December of the previous year, with multiple sources suggesting that he placed bets totaling millions of dollars on that account between 2021 and 2023 while playing for three different NBA G League teams. Notably, these wagers did not involve NBA or college basketball games, as confirmed by one source.
In September 2020, Porter began discussing gambling, stock trading, and cryptocurrency on X under the username @TayTrades11, as reported by Daily Hive. However, the account has remained largely inactive since 2023.
