Toronto’s Jontay Porter could be kicked out of the league if the gambling-related allegations against him prove true, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday.
Silver did not reveal any details about the investigation surrounding Porter following a two-day meeting of the league’s Board of Directors, other than to say the investigation is ongoing. Porter hasn’t played since the league said it was investigating gambling patterns surrounding his on-field performance.
“I have a huge range of discipline at my disposal,” Silver said. “It’s a cardinal sin that he’s being accused of in the NBA. The ultimate extreme option I have is to ban him from the game. That is the level of authority I have here because there is nothing more serious.”
ESPN first reported the investigation, which it said surrounded Porter’s performance in games on Jan. 26 and March 20. In both matches, Porter played shortly before leaving due to injury or illness – and didn’t come close to the figures offered to punters as prop bets in those matches. That means those who basically bet against Porter would have cashed in, because he left those games before reaching the limits set by sportsbooks for his points and rebounds in those games.
Some sportsbooks have said they were alerted to strange betting patterns surrounding Porter prop offerings in those games, meaning it’s likely the league — which has business relationships with many betting companies — may have received some of that same information.
“I mean, it’s not new that there’s unsavory behavior, even illegal behavior, around sports betting,” Silver said. “I guess my point is that, to the extent that it will exist, if you have a regulated environment, you have a better chance of detecting it than if all the bets were placed illegally.”
Porter was listed as out, with the team citing personal reasons, for the 10th consecutive game on Wednesday with the Raptors in Brooklyn to take on the Nets. The Raptors close out the season with games in Miami on Friday and Sunday. Porter’s absence began almost simultaneously with the revelation that the NBA was investigating the betting patterns surrounding his games.