To this point, former NBA center Jontay Porter is the cautionary tale most people will point to when it comes to the risks of legalized sports gambling and potential game-fixing.<\/p>\n
Porter was banned from the league for life last spring, made into an example<\/a> after allegedly betting more than $50,000 during two NBA seasons. He is facing sentencing this December while a federal investigation continues<\/a>, looking into alleged game-fixing in the NBA and college hoops led by one of Porter\u2019s accomplices.<\/p>\n While Porter and the people he went into business with have all been arrested, new details emerged this week from a long story on Porter\u2019s career at\u00a0Toronto Life magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Porter signed with the Memphis Grizzlies as an undrafted free agent in 2020, he was, according to reporter Anthony Milton, already deep in a habit of Wall Street day trading and cryptocurrency investments. As that habit grew to include sports gambling<\/a>, Porter was reportedly granted a VIP account by the FanDuel Sportsbook.<\/p>\n Once Porter was getting NBA checks from the Grizzlies, his wagers grew to the size that FanDuel noticed \u2014 and gave him special treatment. Milton cites a \u201cformer sports betting insider\u201d who explains what it means to be a VIP at a sportsbook:<\/p>\n \u201cIdentified by their spending habits and wooed with invitation-only perks, these premium bettors are assigned a dedicated account executive whose job is to ply them with booths at nightclubs, free courtside seats and other benefits designed to keep them playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he took the ultimate risk of gambling on his own player props and the results of Toronto Raptors\u2019 games, Porter racked up millions of dollars in bets, according to Milton.<\/p>\n \u201cWith his VIP account and public trading ventures, Porter would have been a magnet for predators who try to game the system, looking for an edge wherever they can find it,\u201d wrote Milton. \u201cAnd there was no better edge than an NBA player who could shape the outcomes of games directly.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time Porter returned to the league, he reportedly switched over to using an accomplice\u2019s phone to make wagers. Soon, according to the Toronto Life story, Porter was fixing his own statistics \u2014 going \u201cUnder\u201d on his stats by leaving games early with minor maladies \u2014 to create massive payouts for the group.<\/p>\n