NBA commissioner Adam Silver: Raptors prospect Jontay Porter could be banned for life

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The NBA could ban Raptors prospect Jontay Porter for life or give him other steep punishment should an investigation into betting irregularities surrounding Porter warrant it, ESPN reported Wednesday.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league is still investigating and said what Porter is accused of is a “cardinal sin,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported.

“I have an enormous range of discipline available to me,” Silver said following the NBA’s board of governors meetings in New York. “But it’s a cardinal sin, what he’s accused of in the NBA, and the ultimate, extreme option I have is to ban him from the game.

“That’s the level of authority I have here. Because there’s nothing more serious, I think, around this league when it comes to gambling betting on our games. And that is a direct player involvement. And so, the investigation is ongoing, but the consequences could be very severe.”

Porter had been a much needed minor success story for Toronto’s once vaunted but more recently ineffective developmental program before the controversy broke last month.

The investigation is over betting irregularities involving a pair of Raptors games this season. In both of those games, there was increased betting interest on the under for several Porter prop bets, all of which hit after he left the games just a few minutes in.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there were multiple betting accounts that tried to place large amounts — “upwards of $10,000 and $20,000” U.S. — on Porter unders for the Jan. 26 game. Player prop bets, though they differ per sportsbook, are typically limited to $2,000 maximum per bet.

Porter has been kept out of the lineup since March 22.

“At the end of the day, there’s nothing more important than the integrity of the competition,” Silver said, per Bontemps. “And so, any issue raised around that is of great concern to me and to all commissioners, to all people who are safeguards, who are all people who are in a position and have a responsibility to safeguard the game. Again, this is a burgeoning industry in the United States. It’s been legal in other places in the world for decades. There’s lessons to be learned from the way that sports betting is monitored and regulated in other jurisdictions.

“And again, I think as these unfortunate examples come along, we may have to adjust our rules and our partner gaming companies and those companies that aren’t our partners may have to adjust their behavior as well.”

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