Malik Beasley Indicted On Sports Gambling Charges

Beasley’s lawyer, Steve Haney, tells Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) that his client is facing sports betting, money laundering, and wire fraud charges and that they “look forward to defending all charges.”

As Vorkunov outlines, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York allege that Beasley and Davis got close while they were teammates on the 2020/21 Timberwolves and later collaborated to manipulate Beasley’s performances in four separate NBA games for betting purposes when he was a member of the Bucks during the 2023/24 season.

Prosecutors say Beasley faced million dollars in gambling losses and engaged in the betting scheme with Davis and three other individuals, including former NBA agent Paolo Zamorano, as a way to pay off that debt.

“Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” Davis allegedly told Beasley in a text message about a month before the first game in question, a Bucks/Cavaliers matchup on January 26, 2024. “Everything else they got the edge.”

In addition to the January 26 game, prosecutors identified games on February 27 (Bucks/Hornets), March 10 (Bucks/Clippers) and March 21 (Bucks/Nets) in 2024 as ones the group targeted for Beasley-related prop bets. The group allegedly bet on the over for Beasley’s rebounds in the Clippers game, which he reached in the game’s final seconds, but the scheme “went awry” when the veteran wing didn’t hit his under for rebounds in the Nets game, as Vorkunov writes.

A prolific three-point shooter, Beasley finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2024/25 and appeared poised to land a lucrative multiyear deal with the Pistons in free agency. However, his contract negotiations ended when word broke that federal investigators and the NBA were investigating him due to a possible connection to illegal betting activity. The 29-year-old signed earlier this year with Cangrejeros de Santurce, a Puerto Rican team owned by Bad Bunny, as he awaits clarity on his NBA future.

As Vorkunov notes, Beasley and Davis are the fourth and fifth former NBA players who have been indicted by federal prosecutors as a result of a probe into illegal sports gambling, joining Terry Rozier, Jontay Porter, and Damon Jones. Porter was permanently banned from the NBA after a league investigation found that he had disclosed confidential information to bettors. The other cases are still ongoing.