Raptors' Jontay Porter banned from NBA for life for gambling offenses

NEW YORK — In an explosive ruling, the NBA banned Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter for life after an investigation found he gambled on multiple games and limited his on-court availability for betting purposes, the league said Wednesday.

The probe came after a March 20 game in which Porter played only three minutes after a gambler wagered on the 24-year-old center to underperform as part of an $80,000 parlay to win $1.1 million, according to the announcement.

Investigators found Porter divulged “confidential information” to that gambler before the game, and then claimed he felt ill. Porter played at least 21 minutes in each of the previous four games.

Porter also placed 13 bets totaling $54,094 — resulting in winnings of $21,965 — on NBA games between January and March, according to the investigation. Porter did not appear in any of the games involving those wagers, though he did bet once on the Raptors to lose, the NBA said.

“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,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

Licensed sports betting operators and an undisclosed watchdog organization informed the NBA of the “suspicious bets” regarding that March 20 game, and the $80,000 wager was frozen, according to the league. That wager was not paid out.

The 6-10 Porter, who went undrafted out of Missouri in 2019, was on a two-way contract with the Raptors and averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds over 26 games, including five starts, this season.

He is the younger brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., and an older brother of former University of Denver guard Coban Porter, who pleaded guilty in February to vehicular homicide-DUI in a January 2023 crash that left a woman dead.

Porter is the second person to be banned from the NBA under Silver, who became commissioner in 2014. The first was former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after audio caught him making racist comments.

Wednesday’s ban marks the latest significant gambling scandal in professional sports, adding to a dubious list that also includes the banishments of MLB greats “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and Pete Rose.

Porter’s scandal surfaced within days of Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani accusing his now-fired interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, of stealing money from him to pay off a gambling debt. Last week, Mizuhara was charged with felony bank fraud after he allegedly stole more than $16 million from Ohtani, according to federal authorities.