Raptors’ Jontay Porter Bet ‘Millions’ Over Two-Year Period, per Report
Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter placed millions of dollars in sports bets through a VIP account with sportsbook Fanduel registered in Colorado, Chase Howell of Action Network reports.
The NBA confirmed on March 25 that it was investigating two instances of gambling irregularities related to Porter. In games on January 26 and March 20, Porter played played sparingly before exiting with an injury. In the January game, he played just over four minutes before leaving the court due to what the team said was an aggravation of an eye injury suffered four days earlier. In the March game, he played under three minutes before leaving with an illness. In both instances, there was increased interest in betting the under on prob bets involving Porter, ESPN reported.
Porter placed over 1,000 bets with Fanduel between 2021 and ’23 when he was playing in the NBA G-League, Action Network reported. His bets totaled “millions of dollars” and stopped a few weeks before he signed with the Raptors in December of last year. There is no evidence that he bet on NBA games, according to the report. NBA policy forbids players and employees from betting on NBA, WNBA and G-League games, but wagers on other sports are not explicitly banned.
Porter is the younger brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. He played one season at the University of Missouri before a knee injury sidelined him for his sophomore year. He then went unselected in the 2019 NBA draft and signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. Porter played 11 games for the Bucks in ’21 and then played for the G-League affiliates of Milwaukee, the Detroit Pistons and the Raptors before returning to the NBA with Toronto this season.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last week that Porter is accused of a “cardinal sin” and that he could be banned from the league if the league’s investigation proves the allegations against him.
“There is nothing more serious, I think, around this league when it comes to gambling and betting on our games and that is a direct player involvement,” Silver said. “So the investigation is ongoing but the consequences could be very severe.”