NBA: Toronto Raptors' Jontay Porter gets lifetime ban for violating gambling rules

Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was dealt a major blow as he was givena lifetime ban by the NBA for violating the league's gambling policy. In this regard, the NBA released a statement on Wednesday (April 17) explaining its ruling.

The statement read, "A league investigation found that Porter violated league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games."

The NBA's investigation pointed out that the 24-year-old Porter intentionallylimited his participation in his side's March 20 fixtureagainst the Sacramento Kings in order to influence the outcome of one or more bets on his performance. Meanwhile, in the Raptorsgame versus the Nets, Porter claimed he felt ill after featuring in the game for a merethree minutes.

In addition, it was revealed thatbefore the game, Porterreleased confidential information about his health status to "an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor." A different individual associated with the youngster also bet that he would perform on a below-par level on March 20 as part of an $80,000 parlay the bettor placed with an online sports book.

Porter, who was a two-way player for the Raptors, has now become the second personto be banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver for violating rules. The first was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, in 2014.

After Porter's ban, Silver said, as quoted by Sportstar, "There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment."