To this point, former NBA center Jontay Porter is the cautionary tale most people will point to when it comes to the risks of legalized sports gambling and potential game-fixing.
Porter was banned from the league for life last spring, made into an example after allegedly betting more than $50,000 during two NBA seasons. He is facing sentencing this December while a federal investigation continues, looking into alleged game-fixing in the NBA and college hoops led by one of Porter’s accomplices.
While Porter and the people he went into business with have all been arrested, new details emerged this week from a long story on Porter’s career at Toronto Life magazine.
When Porter signed with the Memphis Grizzlies as an undrafted free agent in 2020, he was, according to reporter Anthony Milton, already deep in a habit of Wall Street day trading and cryptocurrency investments. As that habit grew to include sports gambling, Porter was reportedly granted a VIP account by the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Once Porter was getting NBA checks from the Grizzlies, his wagers grew to the size that FanDuel noticed — and gave him special treatment. Milton cites a “former sports betting insider” who explains what it means to be a VIP at a sportsbook:
“Identified by their spending habits and wooed with invitation-only perks, these premium bettors are assigned a dedicated account executive whose job is to ply them with booths at nightclubs, free courtside seats and other benefits designed to keep them playing.”
Before he took the ultimate risk of gambling on his own player props and the results of Toronto Raptors’ games, Porter racked up millions of dollars in bets, according to Milton.
“With his VIP account and public trading ventures, Porter would have been a magnet for predators who try to game the system, looking for an edge wherever they can find it,” wrote Milton. “And there was no better edge than an NBA player who could shape the outcomes of games directly.”
By the time Porter returned to the league, he reportedly switched over to using an accomplice’s phone to make wagers. Soon, according to the Toronto Life story, Porter was fixing his own statistics — going “Under” on his stats by leaving games early with minor maladies — to create massive payouts for the group.
