Jontay Porter will be charged with a federal felony for his involvement in the betting scandal that previously led to him being banned from the NBA.
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On April 4, it was announced that Porter was prohibited from ever playing in the league again, as a result of the NBA finding out that he had been disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, while at the same time on purpose limiting his performance to influence favorable betting outcomes.
Jontay Porter was pissed this 3 went in 😭 pic.twitter.com/GCyMqV5beX
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) March 25, 2024
The former Toronto Raptors player got caught up in a scheme, where he on a couple of occasions played bad on purpose and limited his playing time to hit the "unders" on prop bets. In particular, the games that were under investigation included, January 26 vs. the Los Angeles Clippers (107-127 loss) and March 20 vs. the Sacramento Kings (89-123 loss).
To point out, according to the prosecutors, there were four gamblers (Long Phi Pham, Mahmud Mollah, Timothy McCormack, and Ammar Awawdeh), who were given notice by Porter that he was going to leave the game early by making up an injury/illness excuse. And in view of this, they've all been charged with "conspiracy to commit wire fraud."
That is to say, the defendants would place bets saying Porter will score the under on his statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists... etc.). Evidently, one of the bettors, even placed a $80,000 parlay to win $1.1 million, and sure enough this game (March 20) Porter only played three minutes and then took himself out after saying he felt sick.
This is when the NBA was tipped off by the sports betting sites, who noted the suspicious submitted entries correlating to Porter's performance in the Raptors' game vs. the Kings.
Jontay Porter allegedly texted his group chat on April 4, saying they "might just get hit with a RICO," the same day he was banned for life from basketball for betting on games. 😳
(Via @SbondyNBA ) pic.twitter.com/pJd9gizSC6
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 5, 2024
Jeff Jensen, Porter's attorney, said in a statement (via The Associated Press) that Porter "was in over his head due to a gambling addiction."
With this in mind, it has been reported that while on the Raptors/Raptors 905 G-League affiliate team, from the span of January through March 2024, there were 13 bets that Porter placed using a friend's betting account. The amount of bets totaled $54,094, and the payout was $76,059 (net winnings of $21,965).
Jontay Porter really got a lifetime ban for $20k 😬 pic.twitter.com/InAWIy2hAI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 17, 2024
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a statement regarding the matter.
"There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter's blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment."
Notably Porter is the younger brother of Nuggets player Michael Porter Jr., and was on a two-way contract during the 2023-24 season; in 26 games he averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists with 13.8 minutes of playing time per game.
Jontay Porter swapping jerseys with his brother after scoring a career-high.
Jontay: 14 PTS, 5 AST, 4 3PT
MPJ: 19 PTS, 8 REB, 2 3PT pic.twitter.com/S1htKzuqdy— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 12, 2024
Related: Tim Donaghy Believes Shohei Ohtani Was Involved In His Translator's Sports Betting Scandal
