UPDATE (4/17/24) — Jontay Porter has received a lifetime Ban from the NBA. The NBA’s statement reads as follows:

As mentioned in my recent Shohei article, sports betting and sports leagues have a serious developing problem. The most recent instance of foul play involves Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter. Porter is under investigation following his performance in games on Jan. 26 and March 20 in which he played only briefly in both games before leaving citing injury.

If you find yourself thinking, "So what, how would some scrub bench player affect the outcome of the game? And, don't the Raptors stink?" You are right. He would not, and they do. But, you would be asking the right question the wrong way.

This probe stems from betting irregularities that were flagged by player props. A player prop is a bet made that does not involve the outcome of the game as a whole, just the production of a single player. On both January 26th and March 20th, bets were placed on Jontay Porter to be under his expected points, rebounds, and assists. The amount of money wagered on Porter exceeded prop bets made on any other NBA player on those nights. Porter was under their points, rebounds, and assists totals on both those nights after leaving those games voluntarily citing injury.

Porter has been away from the team since March 23rd citing personal reasons, however his locker has since been cleaned out. This is one of the most egregious examples of potential player involvement in game fixing since legalized sports betting became more widespread. But it is unlikely it will be the last.

AP Story