Jontay Porter Receives Lifetime NBA Ban for Sports Betting Breaches

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver declared on Wednesday that Jontay Porter, center for the Toronto Raptors, has received a lifetime ban due to numerous gambling-related infractions. Silver emphasized that Porter’s actions were severe breaches of the rules governing the sport, warranting the strictest penalty available.

The investigation into Porter’s activities uncovered that he had disclosed private health information to a bettor before a Raptors game on March 20. Porter exited this game early due to illness, and a bet on DraftKings was placed for $80,000, predicting poor performance from him in several statistical measures. This game saw Porter only playing for three minutes. DraftKings refused the bet due to its suspicious nature and high value, which would have resulted in winnings of $1.1 million.

…which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment.

Further scrutiny revealed that similar suspicious betting patterns had occurred before, notably around a game on January 26, where Porter also departed early for health reasons. These patterns indicated the use of insider information by bettors long before the March incident.

Additionally, Porter was found to have made around twelve bets on NBA games, totaling approximately $55,000 through an associate’s DraftKings account, ultimately winning about $22,000. Although Porter never bet on games in which he participated, he did place a bet against the Raptors on at least one occasion—an action unlikely to be well-received by his team.

Silver concluded, “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. While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players. Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our leagues and game.”