March Madness (March 25)
Toronto Raptors centre Jontay Porter is the subject of an investigation by the NBA looking into irregularities on prop betting involving him, the league confirmed Monday after a report by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst and David Purdum.
“We’re looking into it,” an NBA spokesperson said in an e-mail to Sportsnet.
Porter was not with the team for their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night. He has been on the team’s inactive list since Saturday due to “personal reasons.”
His locker at Scotiabank Arena was empty before Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Raptors said they had no comment on the story.
ESPN’s report came out minutes after Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani held a press conference to say he did not bet on sports and that his interpreter stole money from him and told lies about his alleged gambling activities.
The report from ESPN claims that the league is looking into multiple instances of betting irregularities, particularly prop bets involving Porter’s games on Jan. 26 and March 20.
According to the report, more bets were placed than usual on Porter in the Jan. 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers. His props were set at 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 three-pointers made.
He would end up leaving the game after having played just four minutes after re-aggravating an eye injury he had suffered four days earlier, according to the Raptors, ESPN reported. He finished the game with zero points, three rebounds, one assist and no three-pointers attempted, hitting all the under for the props that were set for him.
Then on March 20 against the Phoenix Suns, Porter played three minutes without scoring and grabbed only two rebounds before leaving due to illness, according to the Raptors, ESPN reported. His lines were set at 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
According to the DraftKings SportsBooks daily reports from the next day, Porter’s prop bets were the biggest moneymakers in the NBA on both those nights, ESPN reported.
Further reports from ESPN added that one other sportsbook also noticed unusual betting activity on Porter props. According to Perdum, multiple accounts tried betting amounts upwards of $10,000 and $20,000 on Porter unders for the game against the Clippers.
Before the game, Raptors guard Ochai Agbaji was asked about how gambling has become more of an issue for pro athletes.
“It’s crazy. I mean, it’s just part of part of our sports now. It’s something that’s on a weird line right now,” he said.
“I feel like sports betting has always been around, but it hasn’t been as popular since … ever, so it’s becoming more popular and obviously you’re gonna have stuff like this and it’s unfortunate but stuff like this is gonna happen, especially when stuff is so close, like sports betting and gambling and the sport itself is being crossed and kind of you see everywhere with it. So that’s kind of how it is.”
Raptors forward Jordan Nwora said that he and other players hear from fans about how their performance is impacting their bets constantly.
“All the time. Non-stop,” said Nwora. “You get messages. You hear it on the sideline. You see guys talking about it all the time.
“It is what it is. It comes with being in the NBA. People bet on silly things on a daily basis. So I mean, it’s part of being in the NBA, it’s what comes with it. I get it.”
The 24-year-old Porter is averaging 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 13.8 minutes per game this season.
He joined the Raptors this season on a two-way contract, splitting his time with Raptors 905, the team’s G League affiliate.
— with files from Michael Grange and CP.
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