Sports betting has become more and more common in recent years, especially in major leagues based in the United States. The NFL, MLB, and NBA have all particularly leaned into this, and are now actively promoting gambling services where fans can put their money on the outcomes of games. While sports betting used to be completely illegal many years ago, it is now an integral part of how leagues promote themselves, and get fans engaged. However, many people feared that with the sports betting industry growing so large, and with more money being at stake than ever before, corruption would start to spread among professional players and coaches. Sure enough, the NBA has just been hit with a scandal that has sent shock waves throughout the entire United States sports scene.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 17, the NBA announced that they have banned player Jontay Porter from the league. Porter, a 24 year old forward who was under a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors, was found to be in direct violation of multiple league rules, including betting on NBA games, disclosing private information to sports gamblers, and limiting his own performance in certain games for betting purposes. The league began investigating the situation when it was brought to their attention by licensed sports betting operators that suspicious activity had occurred surrounding Jontay Porter’s prop bets.
On March 20, the Raptors played a game against the Sacramento Kings. Porter logged just three minutes in the contest, and was pulled from the game after claiming he felt ill. Meanwhile, an NBA bettor with whom Porter was associated with had placed an $80,000 parlay wager on the game, betting that Porter would underperform based on the estimates an online sports book had provided. By participating in only a few plays, Porter hit on all of his unders that night, which should have made the bettor a whopping $1.1 million. However, due to the suspicious nature of the situation, the prop bet was not paid out, and was instead brought to the attention of the NBA shortly thereafter. Five days later, the official investigation was opened.
As the league dug for more details, more incriminating evidence against Porter arose. Perhaps the most damning news was that he had bet directly on NBA games using an associate’s account, including ones that involved the Raptors. On multiple occasions, Porter placed parlays that hinged on his own team losing that night. None of these wagers actually won, but the deed had already been done. On top of that, Porter won a significant amount of money on some of his other bets, coming out with a net winnings of $21,965 over roughly 13 different wagers. None of the games involved were ones he played in, but the NBA’s gambling policy clearly states that players cannot wager money on any NBA, G League, or WNBA games. So, not only was Porter on the hook for tanking stats, but also for betting on games he was not allowed to. On April 10, NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the allegations, and called Porter’s actions the “cardinal sin” of league violations. At the time, he mentioned that the consequences would be severe if Porter was found guilty, and that even a permanent ban was on the table.
Sure enough, just a week later, the NBA officially announced the banning of Jontay Porter from the league entirely, making him the first active player to be expelled from the NBA due to gambling since Jack Molinas back in 1954. Commissioner Silver released the following statement: “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. 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. Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game.”
While nobody is blaming Adam Silver for making an example out of Porter, the larger public concern surrounds whether there could be other offenders out there who haven’t yet been caught. A gambling scandal such as this one opens up a can of worms that professional sports leagues have tried to avoid for decades. While Jontay Porter may have been caught and appropriately apprehended, who’s to say there aren’t other players gambling on games, or fixing their own stat lines? Fans could now have the inclination to question the motives of a player who significantly underperforms, or plays fewer minutes than expected. With the amount of money now in the sports betting industry, it is not unreasonable to think that some NBA players, particularly ones on lower salaries, would be willing to rig games for the right price. And while the NBA has now set a zero-tolerance precedent with the Jontay Porter case, there might still be some players out there who are willing to take the chance.
The implications of Jontay Porter’s betting scandal extend far beyond just the NBA. In fact, the integrity of all sports leagues that actively promote and encourage gambling is now in the line of fire. Just recently, baseball’s Shohei Ohtani found himself in the headlines when it was alleged that his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, stole $16 million from him to pay off gambling debts. While this case is entirely separate to Jontay Porter’s, it shows that betting in professional sports is beginning to cause significant problems for the leagues that choose to embrace it. If fans ever begin to genuinely question the ethics of the games or matches they are watching, the integrity of an entire sport can crumble. Hopefully for the NBA, the Jontay Porter story is nothing but an isolated case, and is not indicative of the league in general. However, only time will tell whether the league nipped the problem in the bud quick enough, or if they truly have a real gambling problem on their hands.
Journalism 2.0 