Jontay Porter’s gambling case has finally reached a decision. He will no longer come back to the NBA or the Masai Ujiri-led Toronto Raptors after getting a lifetime ban due to his actions. Michael Porter Jr.’s brother received the decision after the end of the regular season and will now have to scour for other opportunities such that he can play basketball for a living.
After the decision on Jontay Porter’s case was unveiled, it was a question of whether the Raptors agreed on the situation. The organization with Masai Ujiri leading the charge gave an answer and it was very much in support of the league’s decision, via Vivek Jacob of Sportsnet.
“The Raptors are fully supportive of the league’s decision to ban Jontay Porter from the NBA and are grateful for the swift resolution to this investigation. We will continue to cooperate with all ongoing inquiries,” the organization wrote.
It was reported that Jontay Porter was able to make only $21,965 on his betting deals. This is a meager amount compared to his total career earnings which was just a little under $2.4 million. In some of the prop bets, he even picked the Raptors to lose.
In total, he bet on NBA games 13 times throughout his tenure through a separate account owned by a friend. A separate individual also bet that Porter would underperform for $80,000 and that the former Raptors player would win $1.1 million. This prop was frozen upon investigation and was no longer disbursed by the site.
The small amount that he earned through betting is really not worth it. When compared to his possible long-term tenure and earnings from the league, a lot was thrown away just for the thrill of winning props.
The decision on the Raptors’ player
It took some time to complete the investigation but a definitive answer was finally given by the Adam Silver-led league office, via NBA Communications
“The league’s investigation found that Porter limited his own game participation to influence the outcome of one or more bets on his performance in at least one Raptors game. In the March 20 game, Porter played only three minutes, claiming he felt ill. Due to the unusual betting activity and actions of the player, the $80,000 proposition bet was frozen and was not paid out,” the league office wrote.
There were also multiple other instances where the Raptors player had placed odd bets which led the league to investigate him.
“In addition, from January to March 2024, while traveling with the Raptors or Raptors 905, the Raptors’ NBA G League affiliate, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online betting account. These bets ranged in size from $15 to $22,000, for a total of $54,904. The total payout from these bets was $76,059, resulting in net winnings of $21,965,” they added.
Porter only notched 4.6 points while shooting 38.5% from the field under Masai Ujiri’s Raptors. His all-around game also allowed him to record 3.3 rebounds along with 2.4 assists per contest. There could have been much more to improve in his game but he will now have to do that outside of the NBA. He will also have to cheer Michael Porter Jr. from afar from now on.
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