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The NBA is currently investigating Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter. According to several sources, Porter participated in sports betting stakes involving himself. His actions are slightly frowned upon given how Porter could sell one of their games to win a bet. As a result, the Raptors organization has taken him out of the lineup until further notice.
NBA fans on social media are now giving their opinions on Jontay Porter betting on himself. Here's what some fans had to say on Twitter:
"Jontay Porter catching a lifetime NBA ban for hooking up the guys in his group chat"
"This is the last 24 hours. Easy to see how the increasing integration of betting into major pro sports could lead to a gambling scandal that would be like the steroids scandal on steroids."
"Sports betting shouldn’t be advertised by the league"
"Betting on yourself and taking the under. I respect it"
"If you’re betting real currency on “Jontay Porter” just call the number it’s over"
"So the league that advertises and encourages betting regularly is opening up an investigation into one of their players for.....betting? I'm not sure if this is exactly related, but it all sounds messy."
"All he needs is to play 1 second, take the unders on himself and check out the game or not score on purpose and the bookies have to pay out by rules. This guy probably left some foot prints for the NBA to open an investigation or somebody snitched on him 😭 "
"Well what do you expect when you make betting services so close to the NBA it was gonna happen eventually. You can’t watch a game without 20 FanDuel or draftkings ads."
How does sports betting ruin the NBA?
Sports betting is a thing of the past wherein fans who love to gamble would bet on teams that could win or players who could make certain plays at specific periods. However, during the early days of betting, most of it was done under the table or at least not publicly advertised. But over the years, sports betting evolved and received its own digital platform making it more acceptable to gamble on athletes.
While sports betting has benefitted many gamblers, some NBA athletes aren't fans of it. One primary example would be Kyrie Irving. Last March 2023, Irving shared his sentiments on how betting in basketball has ruined the sport. He said that it's no longer fun due to certain players secretly underperforming for the gamblers' benefit.
A more recent rant came from Tyrese Haliburton when he expressed distaste toward sports betting due to him feeling like a prop. Haliburton despises the idea that these athletes work hard to achieve success while gamblers can easily recreate their success simply by betting on them.
With all that said, the league may want to reconsider advertising sports betting given how greatly affected their players are.
