Jontay Porter does not deserve a lifetime ban from the NBA for abusing sports betting

On Wednesday, the NBA announced that Raptors two-way player Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA after a league investigation found that he violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors. He was also found guilty of limiting his own participation in at least one game for betting purposes, and of betting on NBA games himself – all strictly prohibited actions.

Perhaps most damning, the investigation found that on March 20th, Porter played only three minutes — claiming that he felt ill — after previously sharing medical information with a bettor. That better subsequently placed an $80,000 bet with an online sportsbook to win $1.1 million, which ultimately spurred the league investigation.

It’s a brutal set of allegations that has been likened by some to insider trading. Last week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver characterized Porter’s behavior as a “cardinal sin.” And most people agree that an example had to be made out of Porter in order to send the unequivocal message that the league won’t tolerate any sort of betting misconduct, all in the name of preserving “the integrity of the game.”

In a press release, Silver drove home this point: “There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams, and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishments.”

But, Jontay Porter still doesn’t deserve a lifetime ban from the NBA, and here’s why.

Until now, the NBA has operated under the premise that a lifetime ban is not a tool to address wrongdoing.

When players have made truly awful decisions, like committing domestic assault, Silver opted not to lay down the law in a permanent way. Last summer, Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges was accused of beating the mother of his children in front of them. The victim, Mychelle Johnson, in a since-deleted post on her Instagram, posted a photo of her bruised face and body, along with a caption that read, in part, “Adult victim of physical abuse by male partner; Assault by strangulation; Brain concussion; closed fracture of nasal bone; Contusion of rib; Multiple bruises; Strain of neck muscle.”

When Charles Barkley asked Adam Silver about the domestic violence issues within the league, his response was vague.

“We have state-of-the-art counselors dealing with our players, but of course, if it crosses the line, the consequences are going to be enormous,” Silver said.

“Enormous,” he said – but certainly not a permanent ban. It’s not language the commissioner has ever evoked on the topic of domestic violence.

It’s been years since the league has laid the hammer down on a player like this – the last multi-year suspension being O.J. Mayo’s in 2016, a two-year suspension for drug abuse. Mayo is the only other player since 2000 to be banned from the league.

Over the past 25 years, we’ve seen players beat their wives, break restraining orders, and commit a whole suite of violent offenses. I won’t detail them all here, but you can read my earlier piece summarizing just some of the heinous behavior perpetrated by former and current NBA players and coaches — a substantial amount of which remains unaddressed.

Silver has had the discretion to completely disqualify a player from the NBA dozens of times. Each time, he’s opted not to do so. To date, Miles Bridges’s 30-game suspension is one of the largest domestic violence suspensions in league history.

Critics of this comparison will say that domestic violence should be dealt with through the court of law, and that the NBA has to prioritize punishing actions that directly impact the game, like doping and betting. But the court of law has routinely failed survivors of domestic violence, and so has the NBA.

The league’s decision-making is rooted in the concept that if consumers start to believe the league is rigged, that notion will severely hurt the league’s bottom line. It’s a fair point. Consumers have already shown that they don’t actually care about the off-court behavior of players, about whether they’ve perpetrated violence, about whether they’ve laid their hands on women, about whether they’ve committed sexual assault. It’s that reality that’s at the root of the discrepancy in responses.

Sure, people appreciate hearing about their favorite player doing a good deed off the court, but that’s a distant second priority compared to the player’s on-court impact. The Charlotte Hornets fan base welcomed Miles Bridges back with fervent enthusiasm because he’s one of the most talented players on the roster, regardless of his past wrongdoings.

Adam Silver is concerned about the “integrity” of the game — but “integrity” extends beyond the basketball court. “Integrity” means you don’t make the decision to promote sports betting on League Pass when millions of your viewers already grappling with gambling addiction.

“Integrity” also means that if you maintain that a person deserves a second chance after hitting the mother of their kids, they also probably deserve a second chance for abusing sports betting – particularly in the context that it has become part of the fabric of the NBA seemingly overnight, with little training or support for players.

The uninhibited rise of sports betting made this outcome inevitable

If you’re a consumer of professional sports, you have no way to escape from online gambling. I don’t need to tell you that – there’s probably an ad on this very page, directing you to place a bet on Pelicans vs. Kings. And if you turn on tonight’s game, you’ll be further encouraged to spend on parlays and money lines — all throughout pregame shows, halftime, and postgame analysis.

Players themselves have said time and again that they are constantly harassed by fans about parlays, both in-game and online. Jayson Tatum said at a Celtics practice last month that during games, he regularly hears players yelling at him about his stats.

The constant heckling is only going to get more prevalent as more states legalize online gambling and the league continues its incessant promotions. Most recently, the NBA announced that League Pass will have the option for fans to wager on games in real time through FanDuel and DraftKings sportsbooks (in states where online sports gambling is legal).

Making sports betting this accessible is harmful to the millions who have already become addicted to it. The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling reported a 91 percent spike in calls in 2022, the year Connecticut legalized gambling. New Jersey’s Council on Compulsive Gambling similarly found that hotline calls have tripled since gambling in the state was legalized in 2019.

You can be an alcoholic and see an ad for beer on TV, but you can’t then access that beer on demand. But if you’re addicted to gambling, all it takes is five seconds and you’re down another thousand dollars.

As a member of the media, I don’t have all the answers. It’d be nearly impossible to avoid creating content for sites and channels completely devoid of sports betting, and as the sports journalism industry continues to struggle, making the choice to completely depart from all media platforms that advertise online gambling would effectively be making the decision to terminate a career in this field.

And yes, sports betting has helped make the league a boatload of money. It will be a crucial component of the NBA’s upcoming TV deals, and it’s a big part of why players have the exorbitant salaries that they have. To date, 38 states and Washington DC have legalized sports betting, and more will soon follow suit. We’re in the early days of this whole thing completely inundating society.

So within the context of our current climate around sports betting, putting all the blame on Porter — and giving him no pathway toward rehabilitation — is short-sighted. As it currently stands, the only delineated stipulation related to gambling prevention is requiring players to participate in a singular yearly anti-gambling session conducted by their team or the NBA, per the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. That’s it.

Regardless of the proliferation of this industry, Jontay Porter should have known better.

It would be disingenuous to say that Porter’s behavior can be completely chalked up to the promotion of sports betting. But it’s also very possible that like so many, he was struggling with his own addiction, and in turn, the 24-year-old made a really, really idiotic mistake. All in all, Porter made less than $22,000 betting, an amount that is laughable in the context of his NBA earnings, which equal $2.7 million to date, and likely lots more left on the table.

In turn, Jontay Porter’s professional basketball career, at least in this country, will permanently come to an end. He’ll go down in history as the first NBA player to receive a lifetime ban for sports gambling, and most people will forever admonish him for that terrible choice. Even if the NBA hadn’t enacted the sweeping ban, teams likely would have shied away from a two-way guy embroiled in controversy.

At the same time, people who have committed far graver offenses — with actions reaping far more serious consequences — will continue to sign contracts worth millions. Some won’t mind that, maintaining that the domestic violence comparison is a false equivalency.

But Adam Silver called Porter’s behavior a “cardinal sin.” He used language we haven’t heard him use in reference to far more morally reprehensible acts.

Jontay Porter never should have gambled on NBA games, nor should he have disclosed his medical status to sports bettors ahead of games. That much is obvious.

But his actions reflect a society that churns out and promotes sports gambling in an unfettered way. And the decision to give him a lifetime ban reflects a society that cares much more about bottom line than morality.

If perpetrators of domestic violence get a second chance, so should Jontay Porter. And while we’re at it, let’s reconsider the ongoing proliferation of sports betting ads, partnerships, and promotions, all with limited guardrails in place.