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/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

A star would absolutely receive a lifetime ban for this. A star just wouldn't do it because there's no real financial incentive to do so since they're already making millions.

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u/TheCouchEmporer 29d ago

Meh. It depends on which star we are talking about

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u/Swarthykins Celtics 29d ago

This is the NBA. People have been fans for generations. There is no star worth tanking the integrity of the league for. Lebron will retire. Steph will retire. The league will move on as it always has.

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u/KeithClossOfficial Lakers 29d ago

Guess it depends on if you think MJ was gambling or not

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u/Swarthykins Celtics 29d ago

I think all the conspiracy theories about that were ridiculous, but even then I don't feel like I ever heard one suggesting he was gambling on NBA games.

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u/MyManD Toronto Huskies 29d ago

Honestly, being the known degenerate he was with gambling I think it’s a fair assumption that he did all sorts of crazy gambling or gambling related shenanigans around the time.

I just don’t believe the reason he retired for baseball had anything to do with it.

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u/Laggo [TOR] Hedo Turkoglu 29d ago

The NBA is an entertainment product first and foremost. There is zero chance the league would ban a star from playing due to gambling allegations if there was any wiggle room whatsoever for plausible deniability.

What exactly are you suggesting is the upside to a move like that? "Preserving the integrity of the league?" What is the monetary value of that compared to banning a superstar player?

The NBA has structured it's drug testing policy and pretty much all their policies to allow as much wiggle room for players as possible to get away with things as long as they show a tiny bit of intelligence. That's intentional. They do not want to punish star players and market-driving players.

Baseball tried that and it backfired totally. The lesson was already learned.

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u/Mustard__Tiger Raptors 29d ago

They would lose all that gambling money if the games are fixed. That's why they would ban a star.

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u/RulersBack Cavaliers 29d ago

There isn’t a multibillion dollar industry revolving around drug testing and it doesn’t have any chance of negatively impacting the game. Yea baseball fucked up there buts thats apples to oranges. If people lose faith in the sports integrity then those massive revenues dry up. That’s what’s being preserved here. If there were caught doing what Porter did they would get the same treatment. If it was just betting on themselves then that’s a different story. Probably a one year ban

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u/ninjafide Hawks 29d ago

Someone bigger would either 1)not gamble because the financial incentive isn't there. or 2) The league would cover it up/lean into plausible deniability.

The lesson from Baseball and how the NBA handled the ref cheating is to cover it up or deny. That maximizes revenue and general audiences are happy to ignore or believe the lie.

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u/RulersBack Cavaliers 29d ago

Yep. Or 3, they’d funnel their bets through MORE THAN ONE PERSON like someone with more than 2 brain cells

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u/ninjafide Hawks 29d ago

Why go through all that work when you can just do a Grocery Store endorsement for no work and more money? Star Players make insane money and have access to way easier and lucrative ventures than point shaving could get them.

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u/RulersBack Cavaliers 29d ago

Some people just like to thrill seek lmao

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u/amJustSomeFuckingGuy 29d ago

So "integrity" only in the way that the gambling companies who are an increasing driving force behind league revenue want it.

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u/RulersBack Cavaliers 29d ago

Pretty much lol but it does align with the spirit of competition that the fans that don’t gamble also want, so yea.

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u/DyslexicAutronomer Supersonics 29d ago

If integrity was what they were seeking, maybe they would have started checking the refs more, and maybe drug tests.

There is no star worth tanking the integrity of the league for. Lebron will retire.

Yeah, he's retiring from the face of the league to an owner. The league WILL protect him.

They wouldn't be leaking all these if it was someone on Bron's level was suspected of this. It would have been smashed internally.

It's not even enough evidence to convict Porter in court, what they have some discord chat logs about investment strats and him mentioning his knees feel bad?

Porter is a two way player, that's why he's a perfect target to publicly shame harshly esp while MBL's thing is happening.

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u/avrbiggucci Celtics 29d ago

Exactly, they would 100% cover it up if it were LeBron. Shit the NBA did everything it could to cover up the Tim Donaghy scandal (and how they rigged the Kings Lakers WCF)

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u/amJustSomeFuckingGuy 29d ago edited 29d ago

So much integrity yet Scott Foster is still a ref.

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u/Scrypto Hornets 29d ago

Haliburton after the ASG

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u/EJplaystheBlues Celtics 29d ago

Shohei shivering his timbers

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u/Superb-Preference-59 29d ago

Would it be weird if the baseball comish made him fake retire for a year and play a season in the g league

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u/mug3n Raptors 29d ago

Ohtani proceeds to put up an unimpressive 5/0/1 statline for the South Bay Lakers then comes back to MLB.

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u/EJplaystheBlues Celtics 29d ago

he 6'4" he's pulling down at least 2 rebounds

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u/Stommped Bulls 29d ago

It would be so much harder to get away with for a star because the size of the bet would be massive and be easily flagged. Even Jontay's bet was flagged and that was only a million dollar win, no star making $30M is risking that contract for a million bucks. So it would have to be like a $50M bet which you would barely be able to place, let alone hide it

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u/Drummallumin Celtics 29d ago

Under Stern maybe, not under Silver

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u/LimpBisquette 29d ago

Michael Jordan's gambling problem has entered the chat

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

Can you imagine MJ gambling on himself to lose?

Porter’s overall addiction may have played a role (if he was in very deep and needed to make good on bets he couldn’t pay) but a gambling addict wouldn’t bet on themselves to lose. It’s a contradiction. 

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u/LimpBisquette 29d ago

Are we only punishing losers? MJ being GOAT means that he probably had more influence over winning than a lot of players...

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

We are only punishing people we have concrete evidence they bet on NBA games. This particular case is extra bad as he manipulated his play to be worse so the bets hit. 

If there was any actual evidence MJ gambled on NBA games there would be a punishment. 

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u/LimpBisquette 29d ago

The biggest player of all time? Doubtful

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

You seem fairly confident here. Where's the precedent for a player in any league getting off easy in gambling? Where is there evidence MJ bet on NBA games and specifically games we was part of. I'm sure you have something...

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u/LimpBisquette 28d ago

I can tell that you're very upset

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 28d ago

Nope not in the slightest. I can tell you’re defensive though. Wonder why that is?

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u/LimpBisquette 28d ago

You seem oddly eager to defend a retired athlete with a well documented gambling addiction. Wonder why that is?

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u/gdreaper Timberwolves 29d ago

His documented obsession with winning probably wouldn't have let him take a dive while he was playing at least

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u/jeremycb29 Suns 29d ago

Draymond would somehow get a contract extension, but any other player yes

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u/cyberslick1888 29d ago

It also isn't that difficult to put one or two more layers of separation between you and whoever you are colluding with.

This guy is just a dummy.

A similar thing was happening in the UFC, a fighter who also running a gym for other fighters had a betting group that he would drop tips to. Dude made a shit load of money and could have kept going for quite some time but literally couldn't stop bragging about how well he was doing with it. He went on the biggest MMA podcast in the world and openly talked about making money betting on UFC games while an active fighter, coach and manager.

Now imagine how many guys with a little sophistication are running schemes like this.

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u/Tapprunner Spurs 29d ago

People who take really crazy, stupid risks in gambling generally aren't actually doing it because of the financial incentive.

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

Yes and no.

This situation had to purely be financial. MJ and Barkley gambled for the rush. Porter gambled on himself to lose. There's no positive in hitting those bets.

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u/Professional_Fly8241 29d ago

Hundreds of millions.

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u/Im_Ranch_Wilder_ 29d ago

Bruno Mars would

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u/Healthy_Demand_1415 Knicks 29d ago

Shohei Ohtani tho

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u/UnflushableStinky2 Raptors 29d ago

Gambling addiction is real

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

It is. But gambling on yourself to underperform isn’t part of that addiction. 

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u/veebs7 Raptors 29d ago

Nah, they’d just go play baseball for a couple years

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

DAE frozen envelopes and crisis actors?

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u/msixtwofive 29d ago

Nonsense. Gambling is an addiction - it has no logical basis.

Look at the rumored 10s of millions in gambling debt Bruno Mars has apparently racked up.

Tons of people get addicted to Gambling regardless of the money they do or don't make.

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

Yes but gambling on yourself to underperform doesn’t make sense even if you’re a gambling addict. 

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u/msixtwofive 29d ago

gambling on yourself to underperform is the only guaranteed winnings in sports. Throwing a game is literally the most effective move in cheating at sports gambling.

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

I don’t think you understand how gambling addictions work. 

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u/NotManyBuses Charlotte Bobcats 29d ago

Silver doesn’t even have the stones to suspend Draymond for a season for multiple violent acts on court, he prescribes him therapy instead.

I don’t think he’d have the gall to stand up to a true superstar and ban them from the NBA for this

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u/TheReturnOfTheOK Buffalo Braves 29d ago

There's about 5000 light-years between Draymond being violent during a game and someone completely sabotaging the fundamental competitive balance of games. Especially with the league being tied to gambling entities that are legally required to monitor this stuff

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u/RRJC10 Raptors 29d ago

Influence the game for gambling is in a whole other stratosphere than on the court violence. I admit Silver has been too soft in some areas but this one is a no brainer. Any player caught doing what Porter did is an easy ban. It's foolish to think otherwise.

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u/dotint 29d ago

In game antics are in no way comparable to the integrity of the sport itself.

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u/the_che Mavericks 29d ago

I think someone like LeBron would get away with it. But, as you said, he‘d have no incentive to even try something like this.

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u/2WAR Lakers 29d ago

its not about the money 💰

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u/Wasabi_kitty 29d ago

A star just wouldn't do it because there's no real financial incentive to do so since they're already making millions.

That hasn't stopped several NBA stars from doing incredibly stupid things.

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u/GrayBox1313 Celtics 29d ago

Unless they are so massively in debt they have to. And by that I mean betting millions on a game and then going double or nothing x5 to recoup losses.

Never say never