Big-time gambling scandal may be looming for NBA

[Jerry]

Jontay Porter. I don't follow the league closely enough anymore to be familiar with the name, but he's a bit player for the Raptors...averages 4 points a game.

The NBA is now investigating two games this year where he played only a few minutes and didn't score before taking himself out of both contests, once due to unspecified illness and once because he claimed to have reaggravated a previous eye injury...though he hadn't been listed on the team's pre-game injury report.

Attention has been focused on a potentially suspicious pattern of prop gambling on both games where big bucks were bet on Porter's under number for points and rebounds. In fact, DraftKings reported that Porter prop bets were the #1 gambling moneymaker for both nights of NBA games.

A source tells ESPN: "People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]...and then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more."

To be clear, there have been no accusations (yet)...nor even allegations. But gosh, it does have a fishy feel to it.

 

[Erial_Lion]

And this is exactly the type of thing that can be caught when things are legal and people are monitoring it all...this isn't exposed when it's done offshore or with the local bookmaker.

 

[Jerry]

And this is exactly the type of thing that can be caught when things are legal and people are monitoring it all...this isn't exposed when it's done offshore or with the local bookmaker.

I wonder if "local bookmakers" of the sort my Dad, grandfather, and their friends called to place football bets back in the day have been mostly put out of business in this new era of legalized gambling.

The local bookmaker in our little town was a guy right out of central casting. Name of Butch, owned a bar, and was like a freakin' genius in his own way.

 

[Erial_Lion]

I wonder if "local bookmakers" of the sort my Dad, grandfather, and their friends called to place football bets back in the day have been mostly put out of business in this new era of legalized gambling.

The local bookmaker in our little town was a guy right out of central casting. Name of Butch, owned a bar, and was like a freakin' genius in his own way.

Definitely not put out of business, but I'm sure it's greatly impacted their bottom line....both by all of the legal options, and the offshore books that are a lot less hassle than dealing with a local...their biggest benefit for those that use them is that everything else involves fronting the $, while they still work on credit (well, probably not an actual "benefit" for those going that route, but you get when I'm saying).

 

[Kasparaitis]

Jontay Porter. I don't follow the league closely enough anymore to be familiar with the name, but he's a bit player for the Raptors...averages 4 points a game.

The NBA is now investigating two games this year where he played only a few minutes and didn't score before taking himself out of both contests, once due to unspecified illness and once because he claimed to have reaggravated a previous eye injury...though he hadn't been listed on the team's pre-game injury report.

Attention has been focused on a potentially suspicious pattern of prop gambling on both games where big bucks were bet on Porter's under number for points and rebounds. In fact, DraftKings reported that Porter prop bets were the #1 gambling moneymaker for both nights of NBA games.

A source tells ESPN: "People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]...and then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more."

To be clear, there have been no accusations (yet)...nor even allegations. But gosh, it does have a fishy feel to it.

Shocking.

 

[Jerry]

Shocking.

I think you'd have to be naive to be shocked by this -- granted, I'm a cynic by nature -- but it is a wake-up call of sorts with potentially reverberating consequences.

I mean, the prop betting on player stats is an open invitation to corruption and cheating.

It will be interesting to see where this goes next.

 

[Erial_Lion]

It is a little shocking in that it's an NBA player...wouldn't be surprised to see this from a lower level college player, but there is so much on the line for an NBA guy that I can't believe that if he were involved in it, that they wouldn't have been a lot more careful about how they did everything.

 

[Kasparaitis]

I think you'd have to be naive to be shocked by this -- granted, I'm a cynic by nature -- but it is a wake-up call of sorts with potentially reverberating consequences.

I mean, the prop betting on player stats is an open invitation to corruption and cheating.

It will be interesting to see where this goes next.

Sarcasm. The stupidity of professional athletes knows no bounds.

 

[91Joe95]

Jontay Porter. I don't follow the league closely enough anymore to be familiar with the name, but he's a bit player for the Raptors...averages 4 points a game.

The NBA is now investigating two games this year where he played only a few minutes and didn't score before taking himself out of both contests, once due to unspecified illness and once because he claimed to have reaggravated a previous eye injury...though he hadn't been listed on the team's pre-game injury report.

Attention has been focused on a potentially suspicious pattern of prop gambling on both games where big bucks were bet on Porter's under number for points and rebounds. In fact, DraftKings reported that Porter prop bets were the #1 gambling moneymaker for both nights of NBA games.

A source tells ESPN: "People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]...and then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more."

To be clear, there have been no accusations (yet)...nor even allegations. But gosh, it does have a fishy feel to it.

Jontay is the interpreter.

 

[NC2017]

Jontay Porter. I don't follow the league closely enough anymore to be familiar with the name, but he's a bit player for the Raptors...averages 4 points a game.

The NBA is now investigating two games this year where he played only a few minutes and didn't score before taking himself out of both contests, once due to unspecified illness and once because he claimed to have reaggravated a previous eye injury...though he hadn't been listed on the team's pre-game injury report.

Attention has been focused on a potentially suspicious pattern of prop gambling on both games where big bucks were bet on Porter's under number for points and rebounds. In fact, DraftKings reported that Porter prop bets were the #1 gambling moneymaker for both nights of NBA games.

A source tells ESPN: "People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]...and then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had for more."

To be clear, there have been no accusations (yet)...nor even allegations. But gosh, it does have a fishy feel to it.

Averages 4 points a game, takes himself out, and "a bunch of people bet the under" As if the substitute averages less than 4 points a game? Someone help me here

 

[Jerry]

It is a little shocking in that it's an NBA player...wouldn't be surprised to see this from a lower level college player, but there is so much on the line for an NBA guy that I can't believe that if he were involved in it, that they wouldn't have been a lot more careful about how they did everything.

Agreed...but as Kasp notes above, never bet against the sheer stupidity of...anybody.

I mean, if you've ever watched any of the multiplying brands of true-crime video networks, what jumps out is how totally stupid the perps are...to think that their stories could ever hold any water or allow them to get away away with what they did.

Then again, granted, an increasing number of crimes remain unsolved...uncharged...not even investigated...while a protected class of criminals gets free rein. So there's that too. The feeling of impunity gets contagious at some point.

 

[Jerry]

Averages 4 points a game, takes himself out, and "a bunch of people bet the under" As if the substitute averages less than 4 points a game? Someone help me here

Well they bet the under before he conveniently took himself out, which is the concern.

It all points up how absurd and out-of-control things have gotten...that a bit player averaging 4 points a game could have this kind of potentially-for-profit leverage on gamblers and bookies.

 

[PurposePitch]

Averages 4 points a game, takes himself out, and "a bunch of people bet the under" As if the substitute averages less than 4 points a game? Someone help me here

They're betting the under for his particular contribution. The substitute's contribution doesn't matter. It's a player prop bet. You can bet all sorts of variants of a player's contribution to a particular game. So if the O/U for this guy was 2.5 pts, all of a sudden everyone puts a ton of money on him to score less than 2.5 pts, and then he goes out with an "injury" ... they all win.

 

[Op2]

They do prop bets even for guys that play so little they average only four points per game? Geesh! Do they have prop bets involving literally every single player?

 

[Erial_Lion]

They do prop bets even for guys that play so little they average only four points per game? Geesh! Do they have prop bets involving literally every single player?

You can get them for most guys in a rotation. If I look at the NBA game starting in 5 minutes on DKNJ, there are 15 players listed with o/u on 3 pointers made, and 18 players between that and points.

 

[bdroc]

Jontay Porter. I don't follow the league closely enough anymore to be familiar with the name, but he's a bit player for the Raptors...averages 4 points a game.

The NBA is now investigating two games this year where he played only a few minutes and didn't score before taking himself out of both contests, once due to unspecified illness and once because he claimed to have reaggravated a previous eye injury...though he hadn't been listed on the team's pre-game injury report.

Attention has been focused on a potentially suspicious pattern of prop gambling on both games where big bucks were bet on Porter's under number for points and rebounds. In fact, DraftKings reported that Porter prop bets were the #1 gambling moneymaker for both nights of NBA games.

A source tells ESPN: "People were trying to do whatever they could to bet Jontay Porter props [against the Clippers]...and then, just a few days ago, the same thing. We had a bunch of people trying to bet under for more."

To be clear, there have been no accusations (yet)...nor even allegations. But gosh, it does have a fishy feel to it.

The average salary for an NBA player is less than $10 million. Players need a little side hustle to supplement their income.