Mizzou hoops alum Jontay Porter banned from the NBA
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou men's basketball alum Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA after he broke the league's gaming rules, the NBA said Wednesday.
The NBA issued a press release saying it found that Porter had violated league rules by "disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes and betting on NBA games."
According to the press release, the Columbia native disclosed information about his own health to someone he knew to be an NBA bettor before the Toronto Raptors' March 20 game. Another person that Porter knew to be a bettor also placed an $80,000 parlay with an online sportsbook, wagering that Porter would "underperform" in March 20's game. Porter left that game with an illness three minutes into action and did not come back in.
Due to the unusual betting activities, the person who placed the $80,000 parlay did not receive their $1.1 million payout.
The NBA also found that while traveling with the Raptors and/or their G-League affiliate, from January through March this year, the Tiger alum placed 13 bets on games using one of his friend's accounts. The bets ranged in size from $15 to $22,000, resulting in a grand total of $54,094 in NBA bets.
The league clarified that none of the bets he placed were in games that Porter was set to play in, however, three bets were multi-game parlays that included on Toronto game. Porter bet that the Raptors would lose and all three of his bets lost. The forward's payout from those bets was about $76,000, resulting in net winnings of nearly $22,000.
The March 20 game against Sacramento is originally what brought the suspicious activity to the NBA's attention, as licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets brought their concerns to the league office's attention.
The NBA said their investigation remains open and more findings may come out. Officials added that they have shared their findings with federal prosecutors and will continue to share the results of their investigation.
In a statement, Commissioner Adam Silver 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. 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."
Porter has not played in a game since the NBA started its investigation on March 25, as the Raptors removed him from the lineup for that night's game against the Nets.
