The Brooklyn Nets swingman speaks out for first time about the risks of gambling-related fixes like those his brother admitted involvement in.
After his brother’s arrest last year for participating in a gambling conspiracy tied to game performance, the NBA’s Michael Porter Jr. had been quiet about the brazen, well-documented scheme.
But this week, the Brooklyn Nets swingman broke his silence on the case and spent a considerable amount of time discussing the perils of sports gambling. Jontay Porter, his younger brother, is awaiting sentencing in December on federal gambling charges. The younger Porter admitted to manipulating his statistics in two NBA games in the 2023-24 season while providing inside information to a syndicate that looked to profit handsomely from the intel.
Michael Porter discussed the possibilities for such underhanded arrangements on the One Night with Steiny podcast this week.
“Think about it: If you can get all your homies rich by telling them ‘Yo, $10,000 on my under. … This one game, I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury and I’m going to sit out. I’m going to come out after three minutes,’” the seven-year veteran said. “That is not OK, but some people probably think like that. They come from nothing and all their homies come from nothing.”
NBA players under investigation
Jontay Porter pleaded guilty last July to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with defrauding two sports betting companies. Porter, a former center with the Toronto Raptors, deliberately underperformed on at least two occasions, leading to his permanent expulsion from the NBA. The first occurred on 26 January 2024 against the Los Angeles Clippers when Porter left the game after three minutes with an apparent eye injury.
Porter also left a game prematurely on 20 March 2024 versus the Sacramento Kings when he feigned a stomach illness. In both cases, Porter’s co-conspirators hit the under on a variety of statistical props.
The Porter case is part of a larger investigation undertaken by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Two other players, Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Pistons guard Malik Beasley, are also reportedly under investigation.
Last month, ESPN reported that a Mississippi bettor placed 30 wagers on Rozier-related props over a 46-minute period. The bettor hit all 30 bets on 23 March 2023, when the guard left that night’s game with an apparent foot injury.
Michael Porter Jr. on sports betting
“Think about it if you can get all your homies rich by telling yo bet 10K on my under..this one game imma act like I got an injury and they all get a lil bag… some people come from nothing & they think like that.”
(Via @onenightsteiny) pic.twitter.com/rxIaNoW19w
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) August 12, 2025
Shortly before the start of the NBA free agency window, reports surfaced that federal prosecutors had also placed Beasley under investigation. His attorney, Steve Haney, told iGB weeks later that Beasley deserves a “presumption of innocence”.
Michael Porter addressed the broad investigation in his comments on the podcast.
“Obviously, my brother is in his situation, Malik Beasley is going through his situation, Terry Rozier is in hot water. But the whole sports gambling entity, it’s bad and it’s only going to get worse,” said Porter, adding that he has anecdotal evidence of players who have received death threats from aggrieved bettors.
Industry focus on match manipulation
The convergence of scandal across the sports betting industry has been in the news this summer. Beyond the NBA-related allegations, two Cleveland Guardians pitchers have come under investigation for gambling-related matters.
After Major League Baseball placed Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave in early July, the league disclosed a separate probe of star reliever Emmanuel Clase and placed him on leave as well.
Ortiz is reportedly being probed for suspicious activity related to several microbets on the outcome of his next pitches.
At a recent gaming-related conference for state legislators, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey bemoaned the rise of microbetting during a keynote address. Since then, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has endorsed a ban on bets tied to players’ game performance.
At this week’s Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga, meanwhile, a panel tackled a litany of issues tied to money laundering in gambling, including risks associated with financial crimes facilitated via cryptocurrency.
Heightened risks
As a gambler, Jontay Porter received status as a preferred bettor with FanDuel’s VIP program. Porter wagered millions of dollars with the operator, including a number of large wagers with its Colorado online sportsbook.
"My brother, for example, struggled with gambling. My vice has always come in the form of women… My brother Jontay, he never seemed to struggle with that vice. You know, I never struggled with the gambling addiction. God gave me a lot of money"
-Michael Porter Jr pic.twitter.com/mAHdfjIxQU
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) August 11, 2025
Dan Hartman, former director of the Colorado Gaming Commission, attended the conference in Saratoga. Michael Porter Jr. spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Denver Nuggets, while Jontay briefly played for the Nuggets’ summer league team in 2022.
Hartman is a proponent of using A.I. and other sophisticated technology for the detection of nefarious schemes in sports betting. The tools can be useful when those with criminal intent engage in structuring or spread their action to approximately a dozen operators in attempts to evade authorities.
“There is so much data to comb through, you need A.I. tools, you need something that can chew up a lot of data really fast and see the anomalies,” he told iGB. Hartman added that the tools are valuable not only from an enforcement standpoint, but for risk evaluation because law enforcement, integrity monitors and other stakeholders are analysing patterns across so many disparate areas.
In the Jontay Porter case, the conspirators allegedly wagered $80,000 at one sportsbook on a series of Porter unders that paid out $1.1 million. The wager was subsequently frozen, according to media reports. As of Wednesday, six defendants have been charged in the widespread conspiracy.
Jontay Porter is scheduled to be sentenced on 10 December in Brooklyn.