Raptors reeling after Porter gambling allegations

The Toronto Raptors were still largely in the dark a day after it was confirmed that the NBA was investigating backup centre Jontay Porter for gambling irregularities.

TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors were still largely in the dark a day after it was confirmed that the NBA was investigating backup centre Jontay Porter for gambling irregularities.

“I was just praying for him,” said small forward Bruce Brown on Tuesday after Raptors practice. “Obviously, you don’t want to see somebody go through something like that.

“But other than that, I mean, I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t want to comment too much, but I don’t know.”

Centre Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B.C., said that he and his teammates learned about the investigation surrounding Porter the same way fans learned: through media reports.

“We don’t really know anything is going on, so it’s hard to comment on that,” said Olynyk. “You (reporters) probably know more than us, which is how these things usually work.”

ESPN first reported the investigation on Monday night about an hour before tipoff in Toronto between the Raptors and Brooklyn Nets. The American sports broadcaster said the probe included Porter’s performance in games on Jan. 26 and March 20.

Porter played briefly in both games before leaving, citing injury or illness. He played four minutes 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first of those games, then played 2:43 against Sacramento in the second game.

In both cases, Porter did not come close to hitting the prop-wager lines for points, rebounds and three-pointers that bettors could play.