Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA for life

Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.

The investigation also found that he limited his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and bet on NBA games himself.

"The league's investigation found that prior to the Raptors' March 20 game, Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor," the league said in a release.

"Another individual with whom Porter associated and knew to be an NBA bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay proposition bet with an online sports book, to win $1.1 million, wagering that Porter would underperform in the March 20 game."

Porter played just three minutes in the March 20 game, saying that he felt ill.

The investigation also found that from January through March this year, Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using an associate's online betting account while traveling with the Raptors or Raptors 905. The bets ranged in size from US$15 to $22,000, for a total of $54,094.

"The total payout from these bets was $76,059, resulting in net winnings of $21,965. None of the bets involved any game in which Porter played," the league said. "Three of the bets were multi-game parlay bets that included one Raptors game, in which Porter bet that the Raptors would lose. All three bets lost."

The Raptors did not immediately comment on the ban.