Jontay Porter is facing federal felony charges in connection with a betting scandal that resulted in his permanent ban from the NBA.
On April 4, it was revealed that Porter had been permanently barred from participating in the league after it was uncovered that he was sharing confidential information with sports bettors. He was also found to be intentionally underperforming in games to manipulate betting outcomes.
Porter was implicated in a scheme where he deliberately played poorly and limited his playing time in order to meet specific betting criteria. The NBA scrutinized his conduct in specific games, including the January 26 match against the Los Angeles Clippers (107-127 loss) and the March 20 game versus the Sacramento Kings (89-123 loss).
According to prosecutors, Porter informed four gamblers (Long Phi Pham, Mahmud Mollah, Timothy McCormack, and Ammar Awawdeh) that he would exit games early by feigning injury or illness. Consequently, all four individuals have been charged with “conspiracy to commit wire fraud.”
The accused gamblers placed bets predicting that Porter would fall below certain statistical thresholds (points, rebounds, assists, etc.). One bettor even staked an $80,000 parlay to potentially win $1.1 million. In the game on March 20, Porter played only three minutes and subsequently withdrew citing illness, as predicted.
The NBA was alerted by sports betting platforms that noticed suspicious betting activities related to Porter’s performance in the game against the Kings.
Porter’s attorney, Jeff Jensen, attributed his client’s actions to a gambling addiction, claiming he was overwhelmed. Reports revealed that Porter placed 13 bets totaling $54,094 on a friend’s betting account during January to March 2024. He netted $21,965 from these bets.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the issue, emphasizing the importance of upholding the integrity of NBA competitions and underscoring the severe repercussions for Porter’s rule violations.
Porter, the younger sibling of Nuggets player Michael Porter Jr., was under a two-way contract during the 2023-24 season. In 26 games, he averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 13.8 minutes per game.
In a related incident, Tim Donaghy suggested that Shohei Ohtani could have been involved in a sports betting scandal with his translator.
