In a direct response to the Jontay Porter gambling scandal from last season, the NBA and its gambling partners have agreed to a deal that removes under prop bets on the lowest paid, most vulnerable players in the league.
Both the NBA and gambling partners confirmed the change to Joe Varden of The Athletic.
Per an agreement between the NBA and its betting partners, including FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM, no “under” bets will be offered on any player on either a two-way or 10-day contract.
“We are pleased that these actions have been taken to help protect the integrity of our games,” an NBA spokesperson told The Athletic when confirming the action taken.
These lowest paid players in the league are the ones most vulnerable to manipulation, which is what happened with Porter last season.
He was making $56,000 on a two-way contract and had racked up gambling debts way beyond his means. Tied to that, an NBA investigation found that on March 20, Porter gave a heads-up tip about his health to a large sports bettor Porter knew before a game against Sacramento. A third person — with ties to both Porter and the person who got the original tip — placed an $80,000 parlay bet to win $1.1 million, with the heart of that bet being Porter going under his prop bet numbers. Porter played just three minutes in that game before asking out because he claimed to be ill. The NBA investigation also found Porter bet on games while bouncing between the Raptors and the Raptors 905, their G-League team.
Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA.
Under NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA has backed the legalization and regulation of sports betting in the NBA and has partnerships/business arrangements with the larger online books such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM. Several NBA teams have sports books in their arenas (the teams get a percentage of the handle at those spots).
This new arrangement is designed to take the incentive away from the most vulnerable players in the league. Players making millions — the average NBA salary is $11.9 million this season, the lowest is $1.2 million — are far less susceptible to that kind of manipulation.
