NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that Toronto's Jontay Porter could be expelled from the league if gambling-related charges against him turn out to be true.
Speaking after a two-day meeting of the league's board of directors, Silver declined to provide further details about the investigation into Porter, other than to say the investigation is ongoing. Porter hasn't played since the league announced it was investigating betting patterns regarding his on-court performance.
“I've been given a tremendous amount of discipline,” Silver said. “What he's being accused of in the NBA is a mortal sin. The ultimate extreme option I can take is to ban him from the game. There's nothing more serious than that, so the authority I have here. That’s about it.”
ESPN first reported the investigation, which concerned Porter's performance in games on Jan. 26 and March 20. In both games, Porter played briefly before being sidelined due to injury or illness, but he fell short of his posted numbers. Bettors as prop bets in those contests. That means anyone who bet on Porter essentially made a profit. That's because Porter retired from the game before reaching the points and rebounds line set by the sportsbook.
Some sportsbooks have said they have been alerted to strange betting patterns surrounding props provided by Porter in these games, and this is because the league, which has business relationships with many betting companies, has received some of the same information. This means that you may have received.
“The existence of objectionable and even illegal practices when it comes to sports betting is nothing new,” Silver said. “I think what I'm saying is that as long as there's a regulated environment, we're more likely to detect that than if all the betting was done illegally.”
Porter will play against the Nets in their 10th straight game against the Raptors on Wednesday in Brooklyn, but he was listed as unavailable, with the team citing personal reasons. The Raptors close out the season with games in Miami on Friday and Sunday. Porter's absence began around the same time as revelations that the NBA was investigating his betting patterns on games.
