In mid-2024, the NBA was rocked by Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter’s involvement in unusually high-odds bets on games he was involved in. According to the NBA’s investigation, Porter “disclosed information to an unidentified individual” before games.
After an investigation, the NBA determined that Porter had violated the league’s betting rules and imposed a lifetime ban on the player born in 1999. However, the matter was not over because Porter still had accomplices.
After nearly a year, new details about this case were revealed when police arrested Shane Hennen, Porter’s accomplice, at Las Vegas airport.
The former NBA player admitted to wrongdoing in July. Police also arrested four others in connection with Porter’s case. And Porter’s text messages to Hennen are evidence of his and his accomplices’ wrongdoing.
What did Jontay Porter write in the text message?
According to court documents, during a January 22, 2024 game between the Raptors and the Memphis Grizzlies, Porter texted his co-defendant from the locker room.
Porter’s messages to his allies were as follows:
- I went back to the locker room to get my eyes checked.
- I’m not sure if I’ll get to play much anymore.
- I was not in the starting lineup in the second half of the match.
- But if I get on the field at garbage time, I’ll shoot a million shots.
Porter then went on to tell his two co-defendants that he would have to leave the court early due to an injury during the game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 26. Hennen was one of the recipients of that information. He received a text message from Porter that read, “Let’s go under, and we’ll win big. I told him (the second co-defendant) not to block or steal. I’ll come off the bench, play about 2-3 minutes, and then be replaced because of a relapse.”
Everything went exactly as Porter predicted. On March 20, he and his accomplices used the same trick again. Hennen bet $2,400 on the Under bet on Porter’s points, rebounds, and 3-pointers. As a result, he only played for 3 minutes and scored 0 points. Because the rate of people betting on this bet increased dramatically, the bookmaker became suspicious and notified the NBA to investigate.
