Toronto Raptors forward player Jontay Porter has been served a life-time ban for revealing secret information to the gamblers, according to a statement released by National Basketball Association (NBA) Wednesday.
The probe team found that Jontay Porter violated the legal gambling rules by “disclosing confidential information to sports fetters, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.”
The findings of the probe suggested that the 24-year-old intentionally limited his participation in the March 20 match against Sacremento Kings bring the betting outcome in his favour.
Porter played for only three minutes in that match and said that he fell ill.
“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
“While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity.”
“Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game,” NBA official said.
According to USA Today, an associate of Porter bet that the Toronto Raptors’ player performance would not be up to the mark as part of an $80,000 bet, to win $1.1 million.
This unusual activity caused the freezing of a $80,000 proposition and then was not paid out.
The probe found that from January till March while being with his team, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an account of someone else, ranging from $15 to $22,000, for a total of $54,094.
“The total payout from these bets was $76,059, resulting in net winnings of $21,965. None of the bets involved any game in which Porter played. Three of the bets were multi-game parlay bets that included one Raptors game, in which Porter bet that the Raptors would lose. All three bets lost,” the investigation revealed.
He has been barred from playing since March 25 after irregularities of betting were reported, resulting in his removal from his team’s line-up that night.
