Jontay Porter banned from the NBA

[jowglenn]

Obviously they had to do this, the guy was clearly giving inside info on his own injuries/illnesses to people who were betting on his behalf. It's not at the same level of affecting outcomes like point shaving, but it's something the NBA simply cannot allow to take root in any way. Every player must now know that their career will be OVER if they bet on games or give inside info to proxy bettors.

The bigger problem going forward, as I see it, is that sports betting is still just a question of inside information. Even if a player doesn't intentionally share this info with someone to use in betting, that information is still incredibly valuable. I foresee future scandals where organized criminal groups hack into emails, texts, and computer networks of teams, coaches, medical staff, and players to obtain this insider info to use in betting. No need to hack any bank accounts or financial systems - just get access to a teams' entire email network, and read the notes from the medical staff and coaches on a players' expected return dates, etc, and you can use that for all kinds of betting purposes. This WILL happen, and it's probably going to be hard to spot when it happens - sophisticated groups will use this info smartly and covertly.

[NY2k1]

Not to say this isn't deserved, because it is, but I wonder what the NBA would have done or do if this was someone like Lebron James or an upcoming superstar like Wembanyama. Someone like Jontay Porter is essentially a nobody, so it's easy to just lifetime ban him.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Gambling messes with the integrity of the game itself. It’s the cardinal sin of professional sports. How players act in their personal lives, they care about, but not nearly as much.

[ChipotleWest]

Not sure the outrage, no matter what job you have if you purposely don't do your job right you get fired. Why should it be different in the NBA? This was not him simply gambling on a game.

[Bank Shot]

It will be interesting to see what happens if/when a big name player does this. Highly, highly doubt his brother would have gotten a lifetime ban for this.

[Tor_Raps]

Why is everyone else allowed to be given 2nd and 3rd chances... why can't Porter seek help for gambling and be given another chance?

[Tor_Raps]

Keep beating your wives and parading around your guns boys lol

In this case he deserves a ban, it was not just him gambling. He was tanking prop bets that were for him so his friends and probably he could win money. That is so messed up.

So is beating your wife and leaving her battered and bruised. Just want Silver to admit that he thinks that deserves 2nd chances but addiction to gambling doesn't.

[Curmudgeon]

He's just the first one who got caught. There will be others. When pro sports leagues are in bed with the gamblers, it's inevitable.

IMHO the penalty isn't severe enough. Connie Hawkins was banned for life for taking a $200 loan from someone he didn't know was a gambler. But I guess that was a different era.

[Yallbecrazy]

Why is everyone else allowed to be given 2nd and 3rd chances... why can't Porter seek help for gambling and be given another chance?

It's one thing to have a gambling problem and make bets on games, It's another to purposely tank your own performance by making bets on yourself, or in this case against yourself.

[Saints14]

Not to say this isn't deserved, because it is, but I wonder what the NBA would have done or do if this was someone like Lebron James or an upcoming superstar like Wembanyama. Someone like Jontay Porter is essentially a nobody, so it's easy to just lifetime ban him.

They lucked out in a sense that they get to set the precedent without sacrificing a big name. Of course, now that the precedent is set, they'll have to apply the same punishment to anyone else accused of something similar in the future.

He deserves the ban but I'm also not sure it matters. What team would sign a guy with a history of intentionally tanking his performance and negatively affecting the outcome of the game?

[ChipotleWest]

Keep beating your wives and parading around your guns boys lol

In this case he deserves a ban, it was not just him gambling. He was tanking prop bets that were for him so his friends and probably he could win money. That is so messed up.

So is beating your wife and leaving her battered and bruised. Just want Silver to admit that he thinks that deserves 2nd chances but addiction to gambling doesn't.

You're right about beating your wife, but this was NOT a gambling ban and you just repeated it again. I just explained he was purposely doing his job bad.

[Wingy]

Interesting precedent.

The cover ups for star players will be legendary.

[ChipotleWest]

Why is everyone else allowed to be given 2nd and 3rd chances... why can't Porter seek help for gambling and be given another chance?

Because, as I've already explained, this was not a ban for him gambling.

[Tor_Raps]

In this case he deserves a ban, it was not just him gambling. He was tanking prop bets that were for him so his friends and probably he could win money. That is so messed up.

So is beating your wife and leaving her battered and bruised. Just want Silver to admit that he thinks that deserves 2nd chances but addiction to gambling doesn't.

You're right about beating your wife, but this was NOT a gambling ban and you just repeated it again. I just explained he was purposely doing his job bad.

Now I'm gonna make a joke of it but what's the difference between this and what the Raptors have been doing by blatantly tanking for half the year? The organization itself was purposely doing bad on the court. He was just following organizational orders lol.

[Quattro]

Where's the Lifetime ban for beating your wife?

Doesn't impact sports books so not a problem

[Pharmcat]

Keep beating your wives and parading around your guns boys lol

In this case he deserves a ban, it was not just him gambling. He was tanking prop bets that were for him so his friends and probably he could win money. That is so messed up.

So is beating your wife and leaving her battered and bruised. Just want Silver to admit that he thinks that deserves 2nd chances but addiction to gambling doesn't.

He’s just the fall guy. He is using product what NBA is peddling. It’s hypocritical.

[Wigginstime]

He was barely an NBA player, probably wouldn't have been in the league in two years anyway. Not sure how much he cares.

NBA wanted to send a clear message to every player

This

If this happened to Wembanyama or another young future superstar the league probably would have been more gentle. The story probably would have been sugar coated and the player would have been instructed to admit that he told a friend about confidential health status without understanding how that information was being used to generate gambling winnings. He would have been given a 1 year suspension and instructed to take gambling addict rehab.

The fact is that Porter is the perfect player to send a clear message to the rest of the league.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Not to say this isn't deserved, because it is, but I wonder what the NBA would have done or do if this was someone like Lebron James or an upcoming superstar like Wembanyama. Someone like Jontay Porter is essentially a nobody, so it's easy to just lifetime ban him.

They lucked out in a sense that they get to set the precedent without sacrificing a big name. Of course, now that the precedent is set, they'll have to apply the same punishment to anyone else accused of something similar in the future.

He deserves the ban but I'm also not sure it matters. What team would sign a guy with a history of intentionally tanking his performance and negatively affecting the outcome of the game?

It’s not even just about players. If a coach is gambling under the table, not only is that alone really bad, but they can affect players careers by playing them too much or too little. Pete Rose has been blamed for shaving years off of Danny Jackson’s career because people think he pitched too many innings during that time.

[Tor_Raps]

So what about players who do steroids on purpose? Aren't they cheating the game? Why are they allowed to come back?

[LofJ]

I'm waiting on a ref to go down for this. If you don't think it's happening you're naive.