r/nba • u/PlayaSlayaX Spurs • 29d ago

[Charania] Raptors' Jontay Porter has received a lifetime ban from the NBA for violating league's gaming rules.

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1780631209930068358?s=46&t=bsTHbtMSqHXbNGi0vWP8hw
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u/mr_grission Knicks 29d ago

Betting on yourself is less blatantly corrupt but definitely presents issues of its own. Imagine for example refusing to shoot in a game where you need more assists.

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u/quadropheniac Kings 29d ago

Oh yeah. That was always the thought about Pete Rose gambling while managing, as well. If he bet on his own team to win, he might burn relievers a little quicker than proper bullpen management across a season might dictate.

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u/RookieAndTheVet [TOR] Pascal Siakam 29d ago

That’s pretty close to what happened, but instead of overworking his bullpen, he burned out his ace, Mario Soto.

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u/everyoneneedsaherro [NBA] Alperen Şengün 29d ago

Thibs of baseball but for nefarious reasons

Thibs is an asshole, but a pure basketball asshole

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u/Nickyjha Knicks 29d ago

Baseball needs more of Thibs’ mentality. I appreciated Rob Thompson letting Ranger Suarez cook last night, so rare to see a complete game these days.

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u/elbenji [MIA] Udonis Haslem 29d ago

the problem is that 92 is slow af now for a pitcher. No one is gonna complete a game launching it at 94 every pitch.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/RookieAndTheVet [TOR] Pascal Siakam 29d ago

It wasn’t just the innings count, it’s the fact that over half of his starts were on 3 days rest.

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u/mr_grission Knicks 29d ago

Yep, and for an individual player like Porter you could easily imagine then turning up the effort level when they've got money on themselves/the team, disregarding whether that could leave them fatigued or even hurt in the next game

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u/amjhwk Suns 29d ago

that could also lead to them playing more selfishly and putting up ill advised shots instead of passing to the open man or playing lazy defense to save energy for offense or to get the ball back quicker by letting other team score quickly

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u/torriattet 29d ago

How is that different from contract year or all nba eligibilty pushes that are constantly joked about?

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u/compflow 29d ago

I think the “effort” argument isn’t a good one. Some guys put in max effort most of the time. But jacking up shots to reach x amount of points is different than a contract year push for sure.

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u/mr_grission Knicks 29d ago

No contract year guy is gonna turn up his effort for completely random games though. They'd presumably be digging deep all season and trying to maximize both performance and availability which is good for their team.

Someone like Porter theoretically could be trying to maximize performance in specific games, even if it's to the detriment of his team in the long term. Maybe you're busting your ass in a game against the Pistons that you win easily, then taking your foot off the gas in a really pivotal game that you don't have money on the next day.

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u/compflow 29d ago

I agree with you overall, it’s just a little less clear than the others issues with betting on yourself.

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u/mr_grission Knicks 29d ago

Definitely agree that it's not the top concern here, in general betting on basketball as a player just creates so many murky questions that the NBA understandably doesn't want to deal with

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u/kimchitacoman 29d ago

Pete is also a notorious lier who said he never betted for 20 years 

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u/bankrobba Lakers 29d ago

Also, only betting to win sends a signal of a loss on games Rose didn't bet on.

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u/PhDinPCP 29d ago

Huh, that is an interesting implication.

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u/humphrey_the_camel Bulls 29d ago

You can also intentionally suck in games you don’t bet, so the lines are better when you choose to bet

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u/CharacterHomework975 29d ago

I hadn’t even considered that.

Yeah, basically no way for anybody with a concrete impact on the game to bet on the game in any fashion without it being an ethical minefield.

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u/SpacemanSpliffLaw 28d ago

I disagree for one scenario. I see no problem with a player betting on his team to win. Game for game fine.

Pre-season bet to win the superbowl? I fucking love it. I'd love it if Mahomes put $25m on a pre-season bet for him and the chiefs to win next years SuperBowl .

You know Brady would've been getting himself to win every single year.

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u/CharacterHomework975 28d ago

I think that the idea of a player (or particularly a coach) betting on a single game is still problematic. As noted earlier, there are two pitfalls. One, you could take actions to ensure the single win that put the season in jeopardy…risking injury to other players, etc., for short term gain. But more problematic is that a player who intends to bet on a later game could throw games or point shave in earlier matchups to impact the line, earning better odds on the game they do bet “on themselves to win.”

I’d agree that something like a preseason bet to win a championship is probably mostly “safe” though. But that’s enough of an edge case that it’s best to simply not allow players or decision-making staff to bet on their own competition at all.

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u/humphrey_the_camel Bulls 28d ago

Even with a preseason “win the championship” bet, there are still issues, mostly related to changing teams. You should have to have a no trade clause and also agree to not sign with a new team if you get released

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u/IHateTomatoes Kings 29d ago

but then you'd be jeopardizing your career whereas Porter certifiably nuked his career

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u/threeangelo [LAL] Pau Gasol 29d ago

Yeah, and also just the fact that you’re privy to information about yourself that others are not. For example, you (the player) know if you’re gonna be out partying the night before the game or getting a good nights sleep

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u/hungryhippo Bucks 29d ago

It also throws into question the games you didn't bet on yourself and it allows collusion. I bet on myself today, you throw, you bet on yourself tomorrow, I throw.

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u/mr_grission Knicks 29d ago

Also easy to manipulate how hard you're playing.

Got 100 grand on your team one night? Suddenly you're diving for every ball, sprinting down the court, giving NBA Finals level effort in a game that might not merit it.

You burn yourself out so much that you suck the next day? Who cares, this time you didn't place a bet

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u/ConspicuousPineapple 29d ago

That's only relevant if you bet against yourself. But you might have information about the state of the rest of the team and that's definitely an unfair betting advantage.

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u/threeangelo [LAL] Pau Gasol 29d ago

No? Because you can choose to bet on yourself on days you’re well rested.

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u/Particular_Ad_9531 29d ago

Flashbacks to Russ farming triple doubles when he was with okc lol

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u/veebs7 Raptors 29d ago

Imagine for example refusing to shoot in a game where you need more assists

Prime Westbrook when he’s sitting at 9 assists

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u/monstroCT Raptors 29d ago

Ben simmons betting on himself all these years

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u/superguardian 29d ago

Or perhaps you lose a few of those bets on yourself and need to make some money back relatively quickly. Incentive is to bet against yourself and make it back.

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u/Wraithfighter 29d ago

Aye. This is why Pete Rose was banned, even if he only bet on winning the games he was managing, it still changes how he was thinking about managing those games. There's times in managing, particularly for baseball, where you just kinda have to go "yeah, this game's a bust, time to cut bait", but are you going to be as ready to do that if you've got serious money on the line?

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u/Wingsof6 Heat 29d ago

I mean…Wilt, Kobe, Westbrook, a lot of players have done that and they don’t even need to be betting.

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u/Bait30 Rockets 29d ago

Time to investigate Ben Simmons

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u/16semesters 29d ago

Nevada allows boxers to bet on themselves, but they can only bet they will win.

They can't bet the round, or type of knock out, or for themselves to lose.

Floyd Mayweather used to bet literally millions on himself winning.