Jontay Porter has received a lifetime ban from the NBA for violating the league's sports gambling policies.
Porter, who is the younger brother of Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr, was revealed to have allegedly bet over $50,000 (£40,148) on NBA games as an active player, becoming the first player to receive a lifetime ban from the league since 1995.
"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.
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"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."
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Porter was unselected in the 2019 NBA Draft. He was then signed by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020 and picked up ahead of this season by the Toronto Raptors, where the probe into his sports betting allegations began.
On March 20, Porter subbed himself out of Toronto's game with Orlando after just three minutes. The NBA's investigation uncovered that Porter allegedly disclosed his health status to a "known NBA bettor". Someone later won $1.1million (£802,970) dollars on a parlay bet that hinged on Porter underperforming in that game.
Jontay Porter (right) is the younger brother of Michael Porter Jr. (Getty Images)"I have an enormous range of discipline available to me," Silver said after the NBA'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."
The league's investigation also claimed that Porter placed 13 bets on NBA games while travelling with the Raptors and their G-League affiliate, an additional violation of the gambling policy. These bets were allegedly submitted through an associate's online account, ranging in size from $15 (£12) to $20,000 (£16,059), and the forward's winnings totalled $21,985 (£17,653) on $54,094 (£43,435) of total bets.
Porter becomes the first player since Richard Dumas in 1995 to receive a lifetime ban from the NBA. O.J. Mayo was suspended for two seasons per the league's Anti-Drug Policy and has not since returned to the league. 19 players have faced such a punishment from the NBA, eight of whom were implicated in the 1951 CCNY point-shaving scandal, and the last player to receive a lifetime ban for gambling related infraction was Roger Brown in 1966.
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