NBA gambling scandal: Michael Porter Jr. insists brother Jontay wouldn’t ‘do anything to put his basketball career in jeopardy’ as the league investigates suspicious bets on recent performances by Raptors forward

Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr. refuses to believe that his younger brother Jontay would jeopardize his NBA career by becoming involved in suspicious gambling activities.

The league announced Monday that it has opened an investigation into the younger Porter, a two-way player from Toronto, amid gambling allegations.

ESPN first reported this the investigation, which reportedly surrounded Porter’s performance in the Jan. 26 and March 20 games. In both games, Porter played briefly before leaving due to injury or illness. In both games, Porter didn’t come close to hitting the prop betting lines for points, rebounds and 3-pointers that bettors could play.

Michael Porter Jr. took the podium after the Nuggets’ loss to the Suns on Wednesday night and was asked about the investigation involving his brother.

Michael Porter Jr. said he doesn’t have more details than the media, but he vouched for his brother, who at 24 is a year younger than him, saying “Jontay loves basketball” and is excited to play for Toronto this season to play .

‘I’ve known my brother all my life. “I know what kind of guy he is and I know he’s excited to play basketball and I highly doubt he would do anything to jeopardize that,” Michael Porter Jr. emphasized.

Jontay Porter has not publicly addressed the situation and he has missed the Raptors’ last few games, with the team citing personal reasons.

The younger Porter is averaging 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games, including five starts. The 6-foot-1 Porter also played in eleven games for Memphis in the 2020-21 season.

The NBA has had business relationships with gaming companies for years and lists FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings as official gaming partners. The league also has relationships with at least 24 other gaming operators.

Last week, Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff announced that he had received threats from gamblers last season and reported them to the NBA. Bickerstaff was asked the question after All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers indicated days earlier that he was tired of hearing regular criticism from people on social media about their prop bets.

Michael Porter Jr. made a similar assessment Wednesday night, saying he and others regularly hear about how their on-field performance affects bettors.

“Yeah, especially the last couple of years you hear people in the crowd saying what they need you to score tonight or what they don’t want you to score,” Michael Porter Jr. said. ‘Every night you disappoint someone. You disappoint people if you score too much because they may have bet on the under, and you disappoint people if you don’t score enough.

“So it’s part of the game now. I think it’s clearly a dangerous habit. It is a dangerous vice for people,” Michael Porter Jr. added. to it. ‘You know, the love of money is the root of all evil. So I think even though it’s a thing, we as players just have to accept that. We get paid a lot of money to play this game and I know these people, these fans, who want to make some money too. …

“It’s definitely something that has taken over the sports world. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.’

Jontay Porter, who was left out of Sunday’s game for personal reasons, has not been suspended by the NBA nor charged with any crime. But as seen in several social media posts, the 23-year-old apparently has a long-standing interest in sports gambling.

“Shoutout spazzin for the EZ parley (sic),” read a post from an X account purportedly owned by Porter after he successfully predicted a three-team college basketball game in March 2022.

While it doesn’t represent a potential violation (Porter was not on an NBA roster at the time and the games in question were collegiate), the social media post is one of several questions raised by the league’s investigation into his gambling history.

Porter’s agent did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

Jontay, the younger brother of Denver Nuggets star and NBA champion Michael Porter Jr., is on the fringes of the NBA.

He is currently on a two-way contract with the Raptors, which allows him to be shuffled between the NBA club and its G League affiliate in Mississauga, Ontario. And unlike his older brother, who has nearly $80 million in career earnings, Jontay has earned less than $3 million during his short career.

But while he doesn’t have his brother’s wealth, the younger Porter does have a keen interest in the stock market, which apparently prompted him to create an X account with the handle @TayTrades11.

Porter’s agent did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for confirmation of the account, but in May 2022 the player did refer to the @TayTrades11 page using his primary X handle, @JontayPorter.

“My real trading account is @TayTrades11,” he wrote in May 2022.

As first reported by DailyHive.com, someone using this handle is credited with sharing successful sports betting advice with other users.

‘For anyone who likes to gamble on sports’, read a 2022 post from @NomadTrader8. ‘Did any of you see this play yesterday?

The post included a screenshot of several betting lines for the Memphis Grizzlies – a team Porter had only released ten months earlier.

Porter’s @TayTrades11 account was added to the end of @NomadTrader8’s post, which the player then ‘liked’ online.

The account holder for @NomadTrader8 did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

And that’s not the only exchange between @TayTrades11 and @NomadTrader8.

A day later, @NomadTrader8 referenced @TayTrades11 in another post.

“@TayTrades11 stone cold close of the day last night – Suns/Over (easy$),” the post began. ‘Thanks @TayTrades11! I wish you had a sports betting service…’

The message ended with a “thinking” emoji.

The @TayTrades11 account not only “liked” the @NomadTrader8 account, but also several other sports betting posts, most of which related to college basketball or the NFL.

The ongoing investigation could be the NBA’s biggest sports gambling scandal since the Tim Donaghy saga, when the longtime official ultimately pleaded guilty to betting on games he officiated. Donaghy ended up serving a year in prison.

Specifically, two of Porter’s recent games are under the league’s microscope.

After the March 20 game, DraftKings reported that prop bets on Porter – bets on whether or not he would hit specific statistical benchmarks – were the top moneymaker in the NBA for the night.

Additionally, ESPN reports that at least one other sportsbook found irregular activity on Jan. 26, including several five-figure bets on the under — bets that paid off heavily after Porter left early due to an eye injury.

According to ESPN, suspicious bets ranged from $10,000 to $20,000.