“Highly doubt he would do anything to put that in jeopardy”: Michael Porter Jr. defends brother Jontay who is under investigation for betting irregularities

Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has defended his brother Jontay Porter who is currently under investigation for better irregularities.

The 24-year-old, who plays for the Toronto Raptors, has been under investigation by the NBA authorities for betting irregularities. He has not made any public statements but has missed some of the Raptors' previous matches.

Michael was recently quoted in a report where he stated that he knows his brother’s passion for playing basketball and that he would never do anything to jeopardize his career.

"I've known my brother my whole life,” he said. “I know what type of dude he is and I know he's excited to play basketball and I highly doubt he would do anything to put that in jeopardy.”

Under the league rules, players, team officials and staff members are not allowed to bet on any NBA events.

Michael further went on to reveal that he and other players in the NBA often hear about how their on-court performances impact the bettors.

"Yeah, especially the last few years you hear people in the crowd saying what they need you to score tonight or what they don't want you to score," he said. "Every night you're disappointing someone. You're disappointing people if you score too much because they may have bet on the under, and you're disappointing people if you didn't score enough.

"So, it's a part of the game now. I think that it's obviously a dangerous habit. It's a dangerous vice for people. You know, the love of money is the root of all evil. So, I think that even though it is a thing, we as players just have to accept that.

“We get paid a lot of money to play this game and I know these people, these fans, they want to make some money, as well. It's definitely something that has kind of taken over the sporting world -- I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."