Source: Alika Jenner / Getty
UPDATED: 2 p.m. ET, April 17
Originally published on April 12
An NBA player has been banned from the professional basketball league for his role gambling on games in which he played.
Jontay Porter learned his fate on Wednesday after the NBA announced its findings from an investigation it launched into the now-former Toronto Raptors player.
“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 posted on social media. “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.”
Porter knew a lifetime banishment from the NBA was possible after it was reported last week that he was under investigation for “multiple instances of betting irregularities over the past several months,” ESPN reported at the time.
Silver notably stated that if the Raptors forward was found to have committed the “cardinal sin” of “playing” down or up to the over/unders set around his personal performances, he could receive a lifetime ban.
After multiple instances in which Porter’s performances (or lack thereof) in games between Jan. 26 and March 20 led to some big money making nights for betters, the NBA began an investigation. And Silver isn’t shy about laying down the law on Porter should it come to that.
Per ESPN:
“I have an enormous range of discipline available to me,” Silver said at a midtown Manhattan hotel, after the league’s annual board of governors meetings. “But it’s a cardinal sin, what he’s accused of in the NBA, and 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 think, around this league when it comes to gambling: betting on our games. And that is a direct player involvement. And so, the investigation is ongoing, but the consequences could be very severe.”
Specifically, the NBA’s investigation determined that Porter was guilty of “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”
Porter is the 20th-ever NBA player banned from the league and the second NBA player banned for betting.
The NBA has also banned former referee Tim Donaghy after he pleaded guilty in 2007 to a gambling conspiracy in which he bet on games, some of which he officiated and could help manipulate the outcome.
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NBA Investigating Toronto Raptors Center Jontay Porter For Gambling Activity
NBA Bans Jontay Porter After Gambling Investigation Confirms He Bet On Games was originally published on hiphopwired.com
