Michael Porter Jr. thinks NBA's sports betting culture will get worse

USA Today

a day ago

A post shared by Front Office Sports (@frontofficesports)
Not many people have seen the impacts of sports betting on professional sports as intimately as Michael Porter Jr., whose brother, Jontay, became the first player banned from the NBA for betting on league games. So, it's not surprising Porter would have a lot to say on the topic.
What is surprising is just how in depth he went into ways a player might try to get around the rules, in a recent appearance on One Night with Steiny. "If you could get all your homies rich by telling them, 'Yo, bet $10,000 on my under. This one game I'm gonna act like I got an injury, and I'ma sit out. I'ma come out after three minutes.' 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."
Well, now we know at least one person who thought it through. Maybe keep that to yourself if you're the brother of a guy facing prison time for that exact thing?
On a more serious note, Porter isn't completely wrong. The scenario he laid out is likely a proposition (no pun intended) that's been already been brought to a few athletes by friends and associates. But even as the tracking technology used by integrity firms to catch bad actors continues to prove effective, Porter thinks the culture of sports betting is only going to get worse.
"The whole sports gambling entity? Bro, it's bad and it's only going to get worse," Porter said. "We really do get death threats. The crazy part is you can't win anymore. If I do too good, I'm messing up the people that bet on the under. And if they bet on my over... you're messing up some people's money."
That's the unfortunate part of it all. While the monitoring should be a big enough deterrent to prevent larger scandals in the future, that doesn't prevent bettors from harassing athletes and keeping them hyper-aware of everything that's at stake. Even if it's not their own money.
Are the Trail Blazers staying in Portland?
With the Portland Trail Blazers' sale to Tom Dundon, fans are wondering whether the team will end up as the next to abandon the Pacific Northwest. The reasons why are easy to understand, as Bryan Kalbrosky laid out here:
"The news, which was originally reported by Sportico, led many folks to wonder the same question: Will the Trail Blazers remain in Portland considering that the Dallas-based Dundon is not otherwise affiliated with the Pacific Northwest. His other major sports asset, the Canes, is based in North Carolina."
Thankfully, there appears to be good news on that front.
Shootaround
This was Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.