Adam Silver says Raptors' Porter could receive lifelong NBA ban
NBA commissioner Adam Silver commented today on the investigation surrounding Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter — and it’s safe to say it wasn’t exactly a glowing review.
Porter, who last played for the Raptors on March 22, is the centre of an NBA investigation due to “irregularities” flagged around prop bets placed on the Toronto bench player.
“There is nothing more serious around this league than gambling and betting on these games with direct player involvement. The consequences could be very severe,” Silver said at a press conference following an NBA Board of Governors’ meeting, via ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel.
An ESPN story with a joint byline of David Purdum, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski pointed out two games involving Porter — taking place on January 26 and March 20 — had an unusually high number of prop bets placed on the player.
In both instances, Porter left the game with less than five minutes played, with under bets on Porter’s individual stats reportedly being the highest moneymaker for NBA bettors those two nights on the DraftKings sportsbook.
A Daily Hive exclusive investigation also uncovered that Porter had a long history of discussing money on an alternate Twitter account, which included continual tweets, likes, and replies about gambling, cryptocurrency, and the stock market.
In 26 games with Toronto this season, Porter is averaging 13.8 minutes per game, putting up 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
Silver went on to call what Porter was accused of a “cardinal sin” and suggested he could “ban him from the game”, should the NBA’s investigation find Porter guilty, as per independent NBA Insider Marc Stein.
The Toronto Raptors have yet to comment on the situation, though head coach Darko Rajakovic addressed the media postgame the day the initial ESPN report broke.
“I became aware of the situation today, just like everybody else,” Rajakovic said on March 25 following the team’s 96-88 loss to the Nets. “As my perspective, as coach of the team, I never doubt injuries and the honesty of the players.”
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