Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned for life by the NBA on Wednesday, news that came as no surprise after commissioner Adam Silver hinted that significant consequences could await following allegations of gambling violations.
Porter wasn’t yet a high-impact player on the court, as he spent the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons out of the NBA entirely before briefly working his way into the Raptors’ rotation this year, but the announcement caused a stir. . across sports as a reminder of how fine the line is between league betting associations and player betting violations.
Porter is not the first player to receive a lifetime ban for gambling-related offenses, much less the first player to receive a lifetime ban. Lifetime suspensions are rare (it’s even rarer for those bans to last as long as promised), but they’re not unheard of in the league’s recent history.
Here’s a closer look at which other players have received a lifetime ban from the NBA.
MORE ABOUT JONTAY PORTER:
- Why the Raptors center received a lifetime ban from the NBA
- Analyzing Porter’s Sports Betting Violations
- What to know about Porter’s contract status in the NBA
NBA lifetime bans
More than two dozen NBA players have been banned for life in league history, although many bans were lifted. Almost all lifetime suspensions concern drug or gambling offenses.
A handful of other college players were preemptively banned in 1951 as part of a betting scandal, but they were not NBA players at any time and are therefore not included.
| Individual | Offense | Forbidden year | Refunded? |
| Chris Anderson | Drug related | 2006 | Yeah |
| ralph beard | spot shaving | 1951 | No |
| Roger Brown | Game | 1951 | No |
| John Drew | Drug related | 1986 | No |
| Ricardo Dumas | Drug related | nineteen ninety five | No |
| Tyreke Evans | Drug related | 2019 | Yeah |
| Alex Groza | spot shaving | 1951 | No |
| jalen harris | Drug related | 2021 | Yeah |
| Connie Hawkins | spot shaving | 1966 | Yeah |
| Tony Jackson | Game | 1961 | No |
| Eddie Johnson | Drug related | 1987 | No |
| Luis Lloyd | Drug related | 1987 | Yeah |
| Norma Mager | Game | 1951 | No |
| DO May | Drug related | 2016 | No |
| Doug Moe | Game | 1961 | Yeah |
| Jack Molinas | spot shaving | 1954 | No |
| Jontay Porter | Game | 2024 | No |
| Michael Ray Richardson | Drug related | 1986 | Yeah |
| Stanley Roberts | Drug related | 1999 | Yeah |
| Donald Sterling* | Racist comments | 2014 | No |
| Ron Tarpley | Drug related | nineteen ninety five | No |
| Chris Washburn | Drug related | 1989 | No |
| Duane Washington | Drug related | 1988 | Yeah |
| Mitchell Wiggins | Drug related | 1987 | Yeah |
*— Owner
The longest suspensions in the NBA
Lifetime bans are, of course, the longest suspensions the NBA can impose. Here’s a look at the longest suspensions outside of lifetime bans:
| Individual | Offense | Length |
| Robert Sarver* | Inappropriate behavior in the workplace | 93 games |
| World Peace Metta | Crowd entering during the fight | 86 games |
| Latrell Sprewell | Choking and Punching Trainer | 68 games |
| Mark Stevens** | Pushing the player | 65 games |
| Gilberto Arenas | Pointing a gun at a teammate | 50 games |
| Javaris Crittenton | Pointing a gun at a teammate | 38 games |
| Stephen Jackson | Crowd entering during the fight | 30 games |
| Bridges of miles | Domestic violence | 30 games |
*— Owner
**— Minority owner
Some suspensions were initially imposed as season-long bans but ended up lasting longer or shorter than other punishments due to other circumstances, such as shortened NBA seasons due to COVID-19 or lockouts.
