The Porter family is a well-known name in the world of basketball. As of recently, many of the news articles surrounding the family have been negative.
Michael Porter Sr., the Director of Player Development at the University of Missouri has eight children. The two oldest boys, Michael Jr. and Jontay, played at his school while his fifth child, Coban, played at the University of Denver. Jontay and Coban are the two who have been in the most serious trouble recently.
On Jan. 22, the day after the DU men’s basketball teams’ 61-76 loss at South Dakota State, Coban Porter ran a red light right outside of DU’s campus, resulting in a car crash that killed one woman, Katharina Rothman, and severely injured her passenger, Jason Blanch. Rothman was working as an Uber driver at the time of the accident.
It was later revealed that Coban Porter was driving back from a bar close to campus with a blood alcohol level of .19, which is almost double the legal limit.
He was arrested but was bailed out quickly after by his older brother, Michael Jr. He was also released from the Denver Basketball program and there is close to zero evidence of him even being on the team during his sophomore season. There were whispers from students around campus, and the University released a statement related to the incident.
“This is a tragic and heartbreaking situation, and our deepest sympathies are with those involved in the accident, their families, and friends. All the resources of our campus and the broader community, including counseling services, are available to any DU community member in need of assistance 24/7.”
In the 16 months since the accident, the school has not released anything further and gives out a very similar response to what they said in the statement to anyone who asks for an update.
The incident quickly disappeared from the media but many students still wanted answers about something that happened so close to their campus. Over a year later, they got some.
Coban Porter, who could have faced up to 24 years in prison on counts of vehicular homicide (DUI), vehicular assault (DUI), vehicular homicide (reckless driving), and vehicular assault (reckless driving), took a plea deal that caps his sentence at eight years behind bars and drops both of the reckless driving charges.
During his sentencing, he admitted that, “It wasn’t the first time I chose to drink and drive. I’m so sorry.”
Both the Porter family and the bar Coban left from, Crimson and Gold Tavern, received lawsuits from the injured passenger in order to help with his damages.
Just two days before Coban’s sentencing, a second Porter sibling got into trouble. Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA over a gambling violation.
While the rules regarding gambling on sports vary from sport to sport, NBA players can’t bet on any pro-basketball affiliates like the WNBA, Summer League or the NBA Draft, but they can bet on other sports.
Two incidents, one in January and one in March, set off red flags for major betting sources on what Jontay Porter was doing.
In late January, in the Raptors game against the LA Clippers, there was an increased amount of bets on Jontay Porter hitting the “under” on many of his statistics of the night. He then left the game minutes in with an apparent eye injury.
Very similar to the game in January, an $80,000 bet was placed for Porter to underperform. Porter left the game just three minutes into the contest feeling “sick,” and betting operators flagged the bet for suspicious activity.
This led to the NBA opening an investigation and later sentencing him to the ban. It was later learned that he also placed bets on himself and other NBA teams totaling over $75,000 and having total winnings of over $20,000. This is the first time since 1954 that the NBA has given out this extreme of a ban over a gambling-related offense.
As sports gambling is becoming more and more prevalent and legal, this shows athletes that extreme punishments will be given out if they break the rules.
While dealing with this family drama, Michael Porter Jr. is making his playoff run with the Denver Nuggets and is giving the Porter family some positive press. He spoke at Coban’s trial before game one against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“As the oldest brother in the family – I wish it was me and not Coban – I know if there is anyone who will make it right – it is you. I love you, and I believe in you,” he said.
Coban was sentenced last week and is estimated to be released from prison anytime between 2030 and 2032. Jontay has not released a statement regarding his situation and there haven’t been any updates to his case.
