Michael Porter Jr. on sports gambling impacting players, ‘It’s bad and it’s only gonna get worse’

Professional athletes — including NBA players, but in every other sport as well — are feeling the impacts of the explosion of sports gambling in the United States. Most commonly that manifests as people — both on social media and in person — angrily lashing out at the players for not hitting points totals or other stats that would have won the angry fan their parlay, or a bet on a game.

However, it can be much more than that. Michael Porter Jr. got to see that firsthand involving his younger brother Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA for life for betting on NBA games and “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors” about games where he intentionally “limited his participation” (took himself out early, allegedly due to injury), allowing them to win big on under prop bets.

Michael Porter Jr. talked about it on the “One Night with Steiny” podcast.

Currently, other gambling investigations are swirling around the NBA. Veteran guard Malik Beasley is at the center of a federal gambling probe where he allegedly bet on games and made prop bets. Also, Terry Rozier was tied to a gambling investigation, however, both the NBA and federal investigators say he played no role in any potential illegal activity.

“Obviously, my brother went through his situation, “Michael Porter said…” Malik Beasley’s going through a situation right now. Terry Rozier was in some hot water. But the whole sports gambling entity, it’s bad and it’s only gonna get worse.”

Porter said in the interview that gambling and the idolization of money were not serious temptations for him (while also owning that he had other vices) and that he and every player faces those challenges.

With both the league and its partners having direct ties to legal betting operations in the United States, the potential negative influence of gambling is going to be an ongoing challenge for the NBA and every other professional league. Porter, like many players, recognizes this, and he deserves credit for being willing to discuss it.