Brother of Denver Nuggets Player Shockingly Banned From NBA for Life

The Nuggets are looking to continue their winning ways going as the 2024 NBA Playoffs are about to get underway. 

The defending NBA Champions will be taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. It will be a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. 

While the Nuggets yet again project nicely against the Lakers, there might be a bit of a distraction going into the series. 

The brother of Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr, Jontay Porter, just got handed a lifetime ban from the NBA. 

Jontay Porter, Brother of Nuggets Star Michael Porter Jr., Has Been Banned for Life After Sports Betting Scandal

Jontay Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors this season, was handed a lifetime ban yesterday after being found to have gambled on games. He also gave information about teams and games to sports bettors. 

According to the Associated Press, not only did he gamble on Raptors games, but he even bet on his team to lose as well. The league said that Porter’s gambling habits were not well hidden, making the probe very simple.

The league watched a Raptors and Kings game from March 20th and found evidence of strange betting patterns around Porter. In fact, one bettor that Porter was in contact with bet $80,000 on the player. On that day, Porter took himself out of the game after just  three minutes.

Michael Porter Jr. defended his brother when the probe began, with ESPN reporting that the Nuggets Star believed his brother would not put his career at risk for something like this. 

Has Any Other NBA Player Been Banned for Life?

Jontay Porter is certainly not the first player to be banned from the NBA for life. 

In total, 13 players have been banned from the NBA for life and have never been reinstated. One person, Donald Sterling, is the only owner to have been banned, with his case being for racist comments about his own players. 

A decent portion were banned for either sports gambling or points shaving, but a lot of them are also drug related. 

The last player to be banned for life was O.J. Mayo, who was banned for life after failing a drug test in the league’s anti-drug program. 

While plenty of players have gotten reinstated after a ban, with the extent of Jontay Porter’s gambling problem, he will very likely never be reinstated.