The Jontay Porter betting scandal that turned the NBA upside down

Most NBA fans wouldn’t have been able to identify Jontay Porter if their lives depended on it. However, thanks to a betting scandal that has rocked the league, Porter has become popular for all of the wrong reasons. We’ll take a look at what has Porter in trouble with the NBA, and dive into how concerned the league should be about his alleged misdoings.

Jontay Porter was a player on the fringe of NBA rosters. He played in 11 games for the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2020-2021 campaign, and was in the rotation for the Toronto Raptors during the 2023-2024 season. As captured by Basketball Reference, Porter was averaging just over four points and three rebounds a game for Toronto.

As gambling has become more pervasive in American sports culture, wagering on player statistics is as trendy as ever. NBA fans would usually look to bet the over or the under on how many points, rebounds or assists a well-known player would have. However, there was a strange amount of betting action on Porter’s statistical output in 2024.

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When the Raptors played the Los Angeles Clippers on January 26, 2024, five-figure wagers were being placed on Porter not reaching his projected stat totals on sportsbooks like DraftKings. Porter only played four minutes in that game. To add to the mystery, he left the game with what was called a re-aggravation of a previous eye injury, according to The Ringer.

It wasn’t just that exorbitant bets were being placed on a random player. The Ringer reported that betting Porter’s under for three pointers made was the single-highest prop for an amount standpoint that evening — more than bets for future NBA Hall of Famers, for example. According to CBS Sports, bets of $10,000 and $20,000 were placed, when most sportsbooks limit wagers to $2,000.

Just about two months later, the Toronto Raptors faced the Sacramento Kings, and there was another unusually high surge of money placed on Porter to fall short of his projected statistics. He only played three minutes in that game, departing early due to what was said to be an illness, according to ESPN.

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic was asked about these events by the media. “I never doubt injuries. I never doubt honesty from players. Obviously, I’ve never had a situation like this before,” he told ESPN.

Porter’s Raptors teammate Garrett Temple is the vice-president of the NBPA Executive Committee, which represents NBA players. He told Sports Illustrated, “it’s definitely awkward. You watch a game, and you may see FanDuel or DraftKings as a big-time sponsor for a team, but obviously it’s illegal for us to bet on any type of professional basketball.”

The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo spoke about the Porter scandal in a segment on his podcast. Russillo said that he re-watched Porter’s minutes in the Clippers game, and noticed Porter rubbing his eye after Russell Westbrook’s arm hit him in the neck.

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Jontay Porter was on a two-way contract with the Raptors in the 2023-2024 campaign. According to the NBA’s website, players on these deals can make as much as $559,000 during the season.

The league is going to take a long, hard look at this activity and whether Porter was complicit in ensuring that the under for these bets was guaranteed. It’s an uncomfortable situation, as there seems to be compelling evidence that one of their players tried to manipulate on-court play.

It’s also going to be interesting to see whether sports leagues and sportsbooks partner together to bolster the surveillance of suspicious activity. Defining what constitutes something out of the ordinary is also going to be a challenge.

Jontay Porter’s brother, Michael Porter Jr., is a forward for the Denver Nuggets. Fans wondered what the Nuggets swingman thought about this controversy.

Michael Porter claimed not to have any intimate knowledge of what Jontay Porter might have been up to. “I know what you guys know,” Michael Porter told CBS Sports.

Michael Porter also said, “I know he’s excited to play basketball and highly doubt that he would do anything to put that in jeopardy,” in the CBS Sports piece.

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USA Today suggested that the NBA should levy a lifetime ban against Jontay Porter if he’s found guilty, to send a message to the rest of the league that this type of behavior will be met with the strictest of punishments.