You’ve seen it in plenty of movies before: the villain of the story, on the run from the law, tosses stacks of cash and fake passports into a duffle bag and flees for the airport… only to be stopped by authorities right as they’re at the gate. Well that’s exactly what happened to Long Phi Pham, an associate of vilified NBA player Jontay Porter, in real life.
According to reports, Long Phi Pham — known as Bruce — was involved in Porter’s gambling conspiracy that has resulted in him getting banned from the NBA for life.
After Porter was caught, the 38-year-old Pham attempted to flee the country, as he was stopped at JFK Airport in New York City on Monday, June 3.
Reports from the New York Post indicate that at the time of his arrest, Pham was in possession of a one-way ticket to Australia and a bag with $172,000 in it: $12,000 cash and two cashier checks worth $80,000.
Porter, the younger brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., allegedly was throwing games for Pham and his co-conspirators after racking up large gambling debts.
“Pham is accused of working with Jontay Porter, 24, to place “prop bets” — also known as a proposition, or a wager placed on a player’s performance, like betting on the over or under of a certain statistical category such as points or rebounds.”
“Federal prosecutors allege that Porter had racked up large gambling debts in the beginning of the year to co-conspirators, and was encouraged to clear those debts by throwing games in order for certain bets to hit.” [via New York Post]
Federal prosecutors allege that Porter told Pham that he’d take himself out of the Toronto Raptors January 26 game against the Los Angeles Clippers in order to cash the under on his prop bets. Porter, after playing 4 minutes and posting zero points, three rebounds, and one assist — left that game with an apparent eye injury.
He then did the same on March 20 against the Sacramento Kings when he exited the game with claims of being sick. Each of those prop bets won Porter, Pham, and the other co-conspirators over $1 million per bet.
Porter, who played his college basketball at the University of Missouri, was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies as an undrafted free agent. He then bounced between the NBA ad the G-League before stelling with the Toronto Raptors in December 2023. Just a few months later, Porter was banned from the league for fixing games.
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