There have now been two betting scandals in the NBA in as many weeks as the league has opened an investigation into whether one of its players has been involved in illegal gambling activities.
The Toronto Raptors are all but eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, but there are lingering implications that a member of the team, Jontay Porter, may be participating in stat shaving.
Who Is Jontay Porter
Jontay Porter is a center out of Missouri who has played for the Raptors for 26 games this season. He averages just over 14 minutes per contest, is a role player with upside, and has bounced around the G-League and the NBA for the past five years.
Porter signed with Toronto in December.
What Is Jontay Porter Accused Of?
We recently reported on Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and his suggestion that NBA refs are influenced by sports betting. Now, it has been alleged that the shoe is on the other foot, and the players are initiating the deliberate game-altering behavior.
What we know is that the league is investigating fishy prop bets involving the statistics of Jontay Porter during at least two games this season. The first is a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 26th of this year, and the second is a contest versus the Sacramento Kings on March 20th.
In both games, NBA betting sites featured props for Porter’s potential stat totals that paid out if gamblers chose the correct side of the over/under.
Also, in both games, Porter left the game after only a few minutes played due to various ailments. The implication is that Jontay Porter pulled himself out of both games to ensure that the under hit on all of his NBA prop bets.
Strange Activities At The Sportsbooks
Following the January 2024 game against the Clippers, a nationally recognized domestic sportsbook brand announced that Jontay Porter’s prop bets were among the top money earners for gamblers that day.
After the March 20 game against the Kings, Porter props were the number one earner for bettors. There were also an unusual amount of high-dollar bets placed on Porter-related outcomes.
Prop bets for any sport usually have lower wagering limits than the odds available for game lines or futures. However, sportsbooks are willing to consider a high-dollar wager on any odds they create if you contact a member of their management team and attain approval.
Numerous requests were made for five-figure bets on Jontay Porter props for both the Kings and Clippers games.
The NBA has acknowledged the investigation into Porter and the alleged gambling activities, but no further details have been given at this time.
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