With the NBA investigating a player for possibly conspiring to affect gambling results regarding in-game performance, league commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that such actions could result in a lifetime ban.
Toronto Raptors reserve Jontay Porter is accused of exiting two games to ensure that “under” bets on his performance were winners. He hasn’t played since the NBA launched its probe in late March.
“I have enormous range of discipline available to me,” Silver said in New York at a meeting of league owners. “It’s cardinal sin what he’s accused of in the NBA. The ultimate extreme option I have is to ban him from the game. That’s the level of authority I have here because there’s nothing more serious. ...
“I mean, this is not new that there’s unsavory behavior, even illegal behavior, around sports betting. I guess my point is that to the extent it’s going to exist, if you have a regulated environment, you’re going to have a better chance of detecting it than you would if all the bets were placed illegally.”
An ESPN report on March 25 indicated that the league was looking into suspicious betting patterns regarding Porter.
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The most-bet prop for DraftKings on Jan. 26 was Porter making fewer than 0.5 3-pointers in the Raptors’ game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Porter, a little-used sub, played four scoreless minutes before exiting with what was reported as an eye injury.
“Under” bets on Porter were again heavily favored by DraftKings gamblers on March 20, when he played three scoreless minutes against the Sacramento Kings before coming out with what the Raptors said was an illness.
Porter, 24, is averaging 4.4 points through 26 games (five starts) for Toronto this season. He began his NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020-21, then didn’t appear in the league the next two seasons.
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