Michael Porter Jr. says the proliferation of sports betting has detracted from the integrity and enjoyment of the game and worries that it’s only going to get worse.
“The enjoyment of the game isn’t for the game anymore,” Porter said on the “One Night with Steiny” podcast this week. “It’s so that people can make money. In reality, way more people are losing money than making money.”
Porter’s younger brother, Jontay, was banned from the NBA in 2024 for his role in a gambling scheme. Jontay Porter admitted in court in July 2024 to removing himself from two games during the 2023-24 season to benefit associates who had bet on the under on his statistics. He said the scheme was designed to pay off gambling debts.
Michael Porter Jr., who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, referenced his brother’s struggles with gambling briefly during the podcast appearance and indicated that he understood how players who “come from nothing” could have trouble resisting the temptations of sports betting.
“Think about it, if you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under this one game. I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury, and I’m going sit out. I’m going to come out after three minutes,'” Porter said. “And they all get a little bag because you did it one game.
“That is so not OK,” he added, “but some people probably think like that. They come from nothing, and all their homies have nothing.”
Porter said players are in a no-win situation with bettors, because they are always “messing up” either the over or under on prop bets that have become increasingly popular as legal sports betting has spread across the nation.
“We really do get death threats,” Porter said, adding that he wonders what would happen if an unhinged gambler physically attacked an athlete.
Porter said he believes sports betting should be restricted to in-person, not online, and only in Las Vegas.
“The whole sports gambling entity … it’s bad and it’s only going to get worse,” he said.
