Appearing this week on the “One Night With Steiny” podcast (YouTube link), Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. warned that the growth of sports gambling is changing the experience of watching games for NBA fans, relays David Purdum of ESPN.
“The enjoyment of the game isn’t for the game anymore,” Porter told the hosts. “It’s so that people can make money. In reality, way more people are losing money than making money.”
Porter’s younger brother, Jontay, made headlines last year for his participation in a gambling scheme. He was banned from the NBA in April 2024 after admitting in court testimony that he took himself out of two games during the 2023/24 season so associates who took the under on prop bets could cash in. He added that the arrangement was his way of paying off gambling debts.
Michael Porter Jr. alluded to his brother’s case on the podcast, saying he understands how players who “come from nothing” could be tempted by the opportunity to make big money for themselves and their friends by manipulating the gambling process.
“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, but some people probably think like that. They come from nothing, and all their homies have nothing.”
Porter also stated that players are constantly the target of anger from bettors because they’re always “messing up” either the over or under on prop bets, which allow gamblers to predict whether they’ll have more or less than a certain number of points, rebounds, assists and other statistics.
“We really do get death threats,” Porter said, bringing up the topic of how the league would react if an irate bettor ever decided to physically attack a player.
Porter also decried the growth of online gambling, saying sports in general would be better off if bets could only be placed in person at Las Vegas casinos.
Good thing known intellectual Michael Porter Jr. spoke out about this issue.
Is he wrong?
No he is not wrong
MPJ is one of the smarter, more intellectual guys in the league. Really interesting dude.
More intellectual than POTUS, at least, although that’s a very low bar to clear.
He’s right
Gambling only works if you treat it like a job, not a get rich quick scheme. Years ago my best friend and I played on Full Tilt Poker for awhile. Not big money by any means (we were in college), but everything we did was systematic: game selection, buy-in choice, etc. And we studied the game. Both of use ended up more than 5x our initial deposit. And yet, at the end of the day, we still realized there was a lot of luck involved. It also helped that we kept each other honest, making sure neither of us deviated from the slow and steady path.
If you’re someone who is always chasing that next high and aiming to strike it rich without a thought to process or approach, you’re likely doomed to failure. That’s when you’re most vulnerable to the addiction trap.
I haven’t watched the said podcast, but based on MPJ ‘s comments on this article, he is absolutely right.
Big corporations have taken over every facet of daily life.
This marriage between gambling and professional sports is just another feather in their cap. Their greed is never-ending.