Jontay Porter, a forward on a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors and the brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., is under investigation by the NBA due to multiple instances of betting irregularities. ESPN was the first to report the news, and the NBA said simply in a statement to ESPN that the league is "looking into it." The investigation is reportedly based on two Raptors games, which took place on Jan. 26 against the Los Angeles Clippers and March 20 against the Sacramento Kings.
Ahead of that Jan. 26 game against the Clippers, Porter's over/under prop bet totals were set at 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 3-pointers. In Toronto's previous 11 games, all of which he played, Porter averaged 4.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 0.7 3-pointers. In this game, Porter played four minutes before exiting due to what the Raptors called a re-aggravation of an eye injury suffered during a Jan. 22 game against the Memphis Grizzlies. His final stat line for that Clippers game was zero points, zero 3-pointers, one assist and three rebounds. The Raptors did not have a game between Jan. 22 and Jan. 26.
The next day, according to ESPN, DraftKings Sportsbook reported that the under total on Porter's 3-pointers was the biggest money winner among all NBA player props from that night as part of a daily report to users on betting results. Porter did not attempt a single 3-pointer in the Clippers game. When the Raptors next played Jan. 28 against the Atlanta Hawks, Porter finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three 3-pointers in 19 minutes and 18 seconds of action.
On March 20 against the Kings, a relatively similar situation played out. Sportsbooks had Porter's props set at roughly 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Porter played three minutes, recorded zero points and two rebounds, and left with what the Raptors called an illness. Again, the next day, DraftKings reported that Porter props were the No. 1 moneymaker from that night of NBA games. Notably, the Raptors were remarkably short-handed for that March 20 game. Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl and Chris Boucher were all out, which would have suggested more shots and playing time were available for reserves like Porter.
Porter proceeded to play 20 minutes and 27 seconds in Toronto's next game, a March 22 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He missed Toronto's next game on March 23 against the Washington Wizards, and is listed as out for Toronto's March 25 game against the Brooklyn Nets due to personal reasons.
At least one other U.S. sportsbook detected unusual betting interest on these Porter props, according to ESPN's reporting, with one source telling them that multiple betting accounts were attempting to bet large sums, upward of $10,000 and $20,000, on Porter unders. This would far exceed the typical prop betting limit of $1,000-$2,000.
"People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]," the source told Wojnarowski, Windhorst and Purdum. "And then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more."
All NBA employees, players or otherwise, are prohibited from betting on any league event. Fines, suspensions and termination of contracts are all possible punishments for violations of this policy. The NBA and each individual team have personnel dedicated to monitoring for these sorts of betting irregularities. Porter, who is on a two-way contract this season, is earning $415,000 in salary. He is averaging 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.8 3-pointers per game for the season.
