NBA’s Michael Porter Jr. Believes Sports Betting Pressure Will Only Get Worse

• Michael Porter Jr. says the sports betting entity is bad, but will only get worse
• Says players who “come from nothing” may be pressured to influence outcomes
• Referenced his brother, Jontay Porter’s, “troubles” with sports betting

Sports betting is affecting the way people watch and enjoy sports, Brooklyn Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. said, and can pressure athletes who “come from nothing” to influence outcomes of events for gambling purposes.

Porter Jr., now a member of the Brooklyn Nets after being traded from the Denver Nuggets this offseason, discussed the dangers of the sports betting industry and its affect on sports during a recent appearance on the One Night With Steiny show.

“The whole sports gambling entity, bro, it’s bad and it’s only getting worse,” Porter Jr. said.

Discusses Jontay Porter’s Sports Betting Controversy

During a segment of the show, Porter Jr. briefly mentioned his younger brother Jontay Porter’s “situation” with sports betting. The NBA banned Jontay Porter from the game for life after the former Toronto Raptors backup forward/center provided a sports bettor with confidential information, limited his participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and bet on several NBA games.

Porter was found to have bet against the Raptors in a parlay while he traveled, but did not play, with the team earlier this year.

According to the finding’s of the NBA investigation, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate’s online sports betting account. The bets ranged from $15 to $22,000, with Porter betting a total of $54,094 on the NBA. The total payout from the bets was $76,059, netting Porter $21,965.

Porter Jr. said athletes who “come from nothing” can be influence by the sports betting market to manipulate their own performance outcomes to benefit friends.

“Think about it, if you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under this one game. I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury, and I’m going to sit out. I’m going to come out after three minutes.’ They all get a little bag because you did it one game. That is so not okay, but some people probably think like that. They come from nothing, their homies come from nothing, and if I come out of this game after three minutes and you hit on my under, we all get a little bag,” he said.

Can’t Win With Public

Athletes can’t win with the public, Porter Jr. noted, as bettors will be mad based on any outcome of a game. Athletes receive death threats from sports bettors all the time for “messing up some people’s money,” he said.

“We really do get death threats. The crazy part is you can’t win anymore. If I do too good, I’m messing up the people who bet on the under,” Porter Jr. said.