Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter — with the team on a two-way contract since December — is away from the Raptors and is being investigated by the NBA due to “betting irregularities” surrounding prop bets on his scoring/rebound/assist totals in a couple of games in the past few months, according to a new report.
The league is “looking into it” a spokesman told David Purdum, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who broke the story. This section of their story explains the concerns.
In the game on Jan. 26 against the LA Clippers, there was increased betting interest on the under for Porter props, which for the night were set at around 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. There was also an over/under for Porter’s made 3-pointers, which was 0.5.
That night, Porter played just four minutes before leaving the game because of what the Raptors said was a re-aggravation of an eye injury he’d suffered four days earlier in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He did not score against the Clippers, had three rebounds and one assist, and did not attempt a 3, meaning the under hit on all of the props.
The next day, as part of a daily report to users on betting results, DraftKings Sportsbook reported that the under on Porter’s 3-pointers was the biggest money winner for bettors of any NBA player props from games that evening.
Something similar happened on March 20 when the Raptors played the Kings, when Porter only played a few minutes of a game due to illness, and there were again heavy bets on his prop unders.
It goes without saying, but NBA players and team employees are prohibited from betting on games in any form, including prop bets. The NBA has a team of data analysts looking for irregularities just like this in the betting market, plus each team has a person whose job includes looking for situations like these odd prop bets.
This is a bad look for the NBA. Especially coming at a time when the league is strengthening its ties with legal sports books, bringing more revenue to owners and players from companies offering fans easy bets on sporting events (something that has become legal in 38 states, with more on the way). The NBA will start offering a betting overlay fans can add to games they are watching on League Pass, linking them directly with sports books where they can place bets (for fans living in states where this is legal).
Just the hint of a player fixing his prop bets fuels the conspiracy theorists…