After an internal investigation, the NBA handed a lifetime ban to Jontay Porter for his involvement in multiple alleged betting-related offenses. In this wake, Gilbert Arenas slammed Porter as the “dumbest” player in the Association. He couldn’t wrap around Porter betting “against” himself rather than elevating his game. As per Arenas, this self-destructive strategy looked at quick cash. It didn’t account for landing a big contract by building a long-term NBA career.
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On the Gil’s Arena show, when host Josiah Johnson brought up that the NBA banned Porter for allegedly making “$20,000” by deliberately going under in the betting odds, Arenas had a razor-sharp reaction.
“That’s a dummy, it’s a dummy because if you gonna bet on yourself, bet on the up, right? Four points, two rebounds, three assists, I want the higher. I’m gonna go out there and be very aggressive. I’m gonna be statpadded, 1000%. I’m not going to have four points. I’m averaging four points and make a $10,000,” Arenas told his Gil’s Arena crew
Then Arenas argued that by averaging “two points a game”, the player was justifying his minimum contract. Had he performed at a higher level, he could have landed a bigger role culminating in a big payday.
The 42-year-old lamented that despite getting around 20 minutes a game, the Missouri Tigers alum wasted the opportunity and instead preferred being a mediocre performer. Like Arenas, his frequent collaborator Shannon Sharpe also blasted the 24-year-old Forward.
Shannon Sharpe also called Jontay Porter foolish
Sharpe critiqued Porter’s decision in a similar fashion to Gilbert Arenas. On Nightcap, Sharpe blasted the lack of Porter’s farsightedness. He contrasted his betting-related gains to his career NBA earnings of $2,397,933, per Spotrac. For Sharpe, the Forward gave up 10x amount just to enjoy the “rush” of betting.
“Bet $2.4 million for a chance to win $22,000. People gon look at you like you got to be the biggest da** fool because you made $2.4 million and you lost your entire career for $22,000. Ocho, it’s the thrill,” Shannon Sharpe told Nightcap co-host Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson
His co-host agreed with him and labeled Porter’s alleged involvement in betting as an “addiction”. Then Sharpe brought out Michael Jordan used to bet “$100,000 a hand” for the “rush” related to gambling. As per Sharpe, Porter staked away his entire career just to enjoy the “thrills” of betting.
