Adam Silver Dropped The Hammer And Banned Jontay Porter From The NBA For Life For Violating Their Gambling Policy
Cole Burston. Getty Images.
Well god damn! Adam Silver hinted that something along the lines of a lifetime ban from the NBA could be possible when he was asked about this investigation last week calling it a "cardinal sin", and now that the details are out I'm not sure what else the league could have done other than give Jontay Porter the Pete Rose treatment.
It's one thing to bet on games, it's another thing entirely to be manipulating things on the court in an effort to impact bets. To do both isn't just incomprehensibly stupid, it's also asking to get banned for life. Porter can't even use the George Costanza excuse
because everyone with a brain knows you can't do that shit. In today's day and age with how advanced technology is and how closely all this stuff gets monitored, no shit someone noticed and flagged it. You can't get away with anything in 2024, even if you're a fringe NBA player who 99% of people don't even realize is playing in NBA games. As my Dad always told me growing up, there are eyes everywhere at all times, so don't act like an idiot. You never know who's watching.
The NBA can't really have a situation where players are actively faking injuries or deliberately tanking their play, so when something like that comes up, they have no choice but to drop the hammer, especially coming off the whole Tim Donaghy officiating betting scandal. Maintaining the league's integrity and competitive balance is everything, and if the league finds that someone is compromising that, then yeah that dude is going to get banned for life. I'm not sure what other option there even is. A suspension isn't going to do jack shit, you have to make an example out of that guy to ensure other players realize this is no joking matter.
The league already deals with all these "fixed" or "rigged" allegations every time Scott Foster or Tony Brothers is assigned to work a game, so it's not too hard to understand why someone actually "fixing" or "rigging" things is a gigantic deal and warrants a lifetime ban. It doesn't matter if it's a star player or a guy who barely makes the league. You simply can't have it.
I can't imagine risking your basketball career all so you could make $22K, and as you can imagine Porter is going to get rightfully dragged for being such a moron. It just doesn't seem worth it to me if your dream is to be an NBA player and you grind all those years in the G-League only to mess it up like this. That's tough, but stupid decisions have consequences and sometimes those consequences are a lifetime ban.