Jontay Porter (born November 15, 1999) is an American professional basketball center and power forward who last played for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Missouri Tigers. Porter was previously listed as a recruit under the Class of 2018 before reclassifying up a year to join his older brother, Michael Porter Jr., at Missouri.
| Free agent | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center / power forward |
| Personal information | |
| Born | November 15, 1999 Columbia, Missouri, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school |
|
| College | Missouri (2017–2019) |
| NBA draft | 2019: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2020–present |
| Career history | |
| 2020–2021 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2021 | →Memphis Hustle |
| 2022–2023 | Wisconsin Herd |
| 2023 | Motor City Cruise |
| 2023–2024 | Toronto Raptors |
| 2023–2024 | →Raptors 905 |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
On April 17, 2024, after four seasons playing in the NBA and the developmental G League, Porter received a lifetime ban by the league for gambling.[1][2]
High school career
Much like his older brother Michael, Jontay started out his high school career playing under the Father Tolton Regional Catholic High School in their home town of Columbia, Missouri. In his freshman year, he averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game for Father Tolton before being a key figure in helping them win the Missouri Class 3 State Championship for the first time during his sophomore season. In his junior year of high school, Jontay and Michael, along with their younger brother Coban, moved to Seattle, Washington after his father earned an assistant coaching job at the University of Washington for their basketball team. During Jontay and Michael's time at Nathan Hale High School, the brothers were coached by former NBA All-Star Brandon Roy, who helped lead the squad to a perfect 29–0 record and the Washington Class 3A State Championship. Under the coaching of Roy, Porter averaged a double-double of 14.3 points and 13.6 rebounds per game for Nathan Hale High School, thus earning a name for himself alongside his older brother.
Porter was previously a recruit under the Class of 2018, with him being ranked as high as 11th overall by ESPN at one point.[3] However, after his father was hired as an assistant coach for the University of Missouri, his older brother changed his commitment from the University of Washington to his hometown University of Missouri, and Brandon Roy changed coaching positions from Nathan Hale to Garfield High School, Jontay reclassified himself into the Class of 2017 alongside his brother, joining his family out at the University of Missouri. Between his time preparing for his transfer from high school into college, Porter grew two more inches, thus allowing him to play as a power forward, with center being a viable possibility as well.
Recruiting
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jontay Porter PF | Columbia, MO | Nathan Hale (WA) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | May 22, 2017 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 92 | ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 25 ESPN: 25 | ||||||
Sources: | ||||||
College career
Porter made his season debut on November 10, 2017, in a 74–59 win over Iowa State University. Three days after his debut, he recorded 11 points and 8 rebounds in a blowout 99–55 win over Wagner College. One week later, Porter recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 67–62 win over Emporia State University. On January 10, 2018, Porter made his first start of the season for Missouri, recording a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in a 68–56 win over the University of Georgia.[4] Porter continued starting for the team during the next five games before returning to the bench for the rest of the season. On February 27, Porter scored a season-high 24 points to go with a team-leading 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a 74–66 win over Vanderbilt University. In his last game of the season, he started for Missouri in the NCAA Tournament. On April 5, Porter announced he would enter the 2018 NBA draft alongside his brother. However, unlike Michael Porter Jr., he entered the draft without hiring an agent first, thus allowing him the possibility to return to Missouri for another year if he so chooses.[5] On the May 30 draft day deadline, Porter decided to return to Missouri instead of entering the NBA Draft early.
On October 21, 2018, it was announced that Porter would miss his sophomore season after tearing both his ACL and MCL in a scrimmage.[6] While rehabilitating, Porter tore his ACL again on March 23, 2019.[7] Despite the injury, Porter entered his name for the 2019 NBA draft as one of 233 early-entrant participants.[8][9] Porter was also one of 66 original participants included in the 2019 NBA Draft Combine.[10] By May 30, Porter left his name in the 2019 NBA draft's entry pool.[11]
Professional career
Memphis Grizzlies (2020–2021)
Porter went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft. On March 8, 2020, Porter signed with the Memphis Grizzlies.[12][13] On November 22, 2020, the Memphis Grizzlies announced that they had re-signed Porter to multi-year contract.[14] On July 30, 2021, he was waived by the Grizzlies after making 11 appearances.[15]
Porter joined the Denver Nuggets for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[16]
Wisconsin Herd (2022–2023)
On November 3, 2022, Porter was named to the opening night roster for the Wisconsin Herd.[17]
Motor City Cruise (2023)
On October 2, 2023, Porter signed with the Detroit Pistons,[18] but was waived on October 21.[19] Nine days later, he joined the Motor City Cruise.[20]
Toronto Raptors / Raptors 905 (2023–2024)
On December 9, 2023, Porter signed a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors.[21]
Gambling accusations and ban from NBA
On March 25, 2024, ESPN reported that the NBA had opened an investigation of Porter for "multiple instances of betting irregularities over the past several months".[22] On April 11, the Colorado Division of Gaming issued an instruction to state sportsbook operators to immediately report any potential wagering on "NBA affiliated games" by accounts connected to Porter.[23]
The investigation centered around irregularities found related to proposition bets around Porter's individual statistics. On March 20, during a game against the Sacramento Kings, the NBA said Porter "disclosed confidential information about his own health status" to an individual known to be a sports bettor.[24] Yet another bettor then wagered $80,000 on a parlay bet that Porter would not meet certain player statistics – an under bet – which would have won $1.1 million. Porter's behavior raised suspicion when he removed himself from the game due to illness. The size of the bets were highly irregular, so the bet was never paid out and an investigation was opened when the sportsbook reported the unusual activity to the NBA.[1][25]
In its investigation, the NBA also found that from January to March 2024, he placed 13 bets on NBA games using another person's account. Some of the wagers included parlay bets involving the Raptors losing. His wagers totaled $54,000 over that period, netting over $22,000 in winnings.[24]
The NBA accused him of "disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games."[25]
On April 17, Porter was banned for life from further play and involvement in the NBA and its associated leagues[1][2] making him the first active player to be banned from the NBA for gambling since Jack Molinas in 1954,[24] as well as the first active player to be permanently banned from the NBA without having any means to return to the NBA later on since Richard Dumas in 1995.[26]
Personal life
In addition to his older brother Michael Porter Jr. with the Denver Nuggets, Jontay has two older sisters named Bri and Cierra, both of whom were deemed medically retired from playing sports due to multiple injuries involving their legs.[27] Cierra Porter later returned for her senior year at the University of Missouri.[28]
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Memphis | 11 | 0 | 4.9 | .533 | .375 | .600 | 1.3 | .1 | .3 | .1 | 2.0 |
| 2023–24 | Toronto | 26 | 5 | 13.8 | .385 | .333 | .833 | 3.2 | 2.3 | .8 | .8 | 4.4 |
| Career | 37 | 5 | 11.2 | .403 | .338 | .783 | 2.6 | 1.6 | .6 | .6 | 3.7 | |
NBA G League
Source[29]
Showcase Cup
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | Wisconsin | 15 | 8 | 27.0 | .442 | .411 | .714 | 8.5 | 2.4 | .5 | 1.5 | 13.5 |
| 2023–24 | Motor City | 10 | 10 | 33.7 | .456 | .277 | .667 | 11.1 | 2.5 | .8 | 2.8 | 16.8 |
| 2023–24 | 905 | 5 | 5 | 27.0 | .607 | .682 | 1.000 | 9.2 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 18.8 |
| Career | 30 | 23 | 29.2 | .475 | .395 | .727 | 9.5 | 2.7 | .7 | 2.1 | 15.5 | |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Memphis | 9 | 0 | 16.8 | .342 | .184 | .556 | 4.7 | 1.2 | .9 | 1.2 | 7.4 |
| 2022–23 | Wisconsin | 17 | 13 | 29.4 | .353 | .287 | .600 | 11.4 | 3.4 | .9 | 2.6 | 11.5 |
| 2023–24 | 905 | 7 | 7 | 30.3 | .344 | .298 | .636 | 10.9 | 6.0 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 13.1 |
| Career | 33 | 20 | 26.1 | .348 | .270 | .600 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 10.7 | |
College
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Missouri | 33 | 7 | 24.5 | .437 | .364 | .750 | 6.8 | 2.2 | .8 | 1.7 | 9.9 |