2024 was a tough year for Michael Porter Jr. and his family. In April, his younger brother, Coban, was sentenced to six years in prison for a fatal DUI crash. Two months later, another younger brother, Jontay, playing for the Toronto Raptors at the time, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud case tied to a betting scandal.
During his recent appearance on “Respectfully, The Justin Laboy Show,” Michael addressed his brother’s gambling issues and talked about how the entire situation affected their family.
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“When all that stuff went down, it was tough on the family because our parents raised us to be good kids,” he explained. “They instilled God into us, and some of the situations that have happened in my family, it’s like that’s not a good representation about how my parents were. So it was kind of hard. My dad’s in the church. He’s an elder at the church, so that was hard for the family. I’m sure it was hard for Jontay, and you know, he’s married, he’s got a little boy. I’m sure it was hard for their family as well.”
MPJ knew Jontay was gambling
Before the scandal broke, Michael knew that Jontay was into Day trading — buying and selling financial instruments like stocks or currency within the same day to make a profit. He also said that Jontay was into gambling on football games.
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But Michael always thought his brother was only doing it for fun because, at the time, he wasn’t in any financial trouble and was making good money playing basketball.
“Jontay, he had an NBA contract. He was getting six figures every other week, you know, because we get paid bi-weekly. When he was on his deal, he was getting a good chunk of money every other week. I don’t think he was gambling for more money because he was financially way more stable than he’s ever been. I really think it’s the dopamine rush. He said it was so fun to him,” said the 27-year-old Brooklyn Nets forward.
Jontay is set to be sentenced in December
Jontay signed a two-way contract with the Raptors in December 2023, with the incidents occurring between January and March 2024. A two-way deal is worth half the rookie minimum salary, which in 2023 equaled $559,781. Prior to this, he earned a total of $2.39 million with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2019 to 2021.
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Whether Michael Porter Jr. was correct about his brother’s salary or not, the betting amounts were small compared to even a two-way contract.
According to the NBA’s investigation, Porter placed at least 13 bets on his own prop lines, wagering between $15 and $22,000, for a total of $54,000. He won $22,000.
As a result of his actions, he was banned for life by the NBA for violating gambling rules. He also pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the betting scandal and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2025, with a potential jail time of up to 20 years.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.