Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. has been having quite the summer as he finds himself playing for the Nets after spending his first seven seasons with the Denver Nuggets. Porter has used his presence off the court to talk about various issues important to him, but he recently made a podcast appearance to talk about something affecting players behind the scenes.
“Talking about the integrity of the game. Yeah. The sports gambling stuff can affect that a lot,” Porter said during his appearance on the “One Night With Steiny” podcast in which he addressed several topics, including how he feels about the current state of gambling. Porter recently spoke on the topic on his “Curious Mike” YouTube channel in which he explained how his brother, Jontay, fell victim to the sports betting scene.
“Think about it. You get mad at these dudes that do the sports betting, but think about if you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under’,” Porter continued. “That is so not okay. But, some people probably think like that. They come from nothing and all their homies have nothing.”
Porter is one of many athletes across various sports and leagues to talk about the effect of sports betting not only on the perceived integrity of sports, but the players who participate in those sports as well. Later on, Porter even brings up NFL tight end Mark Andrews of the Baltimore Ravens who received plenty of negativity after dropping a pass that would have tied the game between his Ravens and the Buffalo Bills.
Porter is more familiar with the effects of sports betting on players more than most as his own brother has been banned from the NBA for betting on himself. Ever since sports gambling has been legalized, it seems that there are athletes who have to resist the temptation to participate while there are fans who are going above and beyond to target players. Porter seems to be speaking out against all of it.