An NBA player is under investigation for betting irregularities.
The league is looking into Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter involving significant action on the under of player prop bets from two games, ESPN reported Monday.
In a Jan. 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Porter left the contest after playing four minutes due to the re-aggravation of an eye injury suffered four days earlier, the Raptors said.
Porter did not score, and all of his props went under. DraftKings said in its daily report that his under 0.5 3-pointers made was the largest win for bettors of any NBA player prop that day.
On March 20, Porter left a game against the Sacramento Kings for what the Raptors said was an illness. He only played three minutes, attempted one shot that was missed, and grabbed two rebounds in the contest. His totals were set at 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Porter’s props were the top moneymaker for bettors that day, according to the DraftKings report.
Porter is on a $415,000 two-way contract with the Raptors this season, and he averages 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 14 minutes per game.
Don’t bet on it
Placing any sports bet on an NBA game by a player or employee is prohibited and monitored by the league.
Punishments for doing so include fines, suspensions, and possibly the termination of contracts, according to the league’s policy.
The NBA uses sports betting watchdog firm U.S. Integrity to help detect betting irregularities.
“I think that public markets worked very well in this country,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said during a convention last summer. “But the other side of a public market is the potential for insider trading. And there are very sophisticated algorithms, etc., that track it. It’s not that different in sports now, especially when you get higher volumes of betting. You have very sophisticated computers; when they see aberrational betting … you’re going to get caught.”
Close eye
The NBA isn’t the only U.S. sports league facing scrutiny.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is being investigated by MLB after he claimed his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole millions of dollars to pay off gambling debts. Ohtani spoke on the matter Monday for the first time, denying any involvement in sports betting or placing any wagers himself.
College sports has had its issues over the last year. Brad Bohannon was fired as Alabama baseball coach after he was caught giving inside information over the phone to a bettor in an Ohio sportsbook.
Several Iowa and Iowa State student-athletes were found to have illegally placed sports bets, including some on their own games.
