Malik Beasley has been indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on sports gambling charges, and former NBA big man Ed Davis was also named in the case, according to a report by Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, said his client is facing sports betting, money laundering, and wire fraud charges and that they “look forward to defending all charges.”
According to prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Beasley and Davis grew close while they were teammates on the 2020/21 Timberwolves. The government alleges that later on, they worked together to manipulate Beasley’s performances in four NBA games for betting purposes while Beasley was with the Bucks during the 2023/24 season.
Prosecutors say Beasley was dealing with million dollars in gambling losses and joined the scheme with Davis and three other people, including former NBA agent Paolo Zamorano, in an effort to pay off that debt.
One alleged text message from Davis to Beasley came about a month before the first game under scrutiny, a Bucks/Cavaliers matchup on January 26, 2024: “Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” Davis allegedly wrote. “Everything else they got the edge.”
The other games identified by prosecutors were Bucks/Hornets on February 27, Bucks/Clippers on March 10, and Bucks/Nets on March 21, all in 2024. In the January 26 game, Beasley took only two field goal attempts and finished with three points, while investigators say the group wagered thousands of dollars on that contest.
The alleged betting also extended to Beasley’s rebounds. The group reportedly bet the “over” on his rebounds at 3.5 in the Clippers game and celebrated when he got his fourth rebound in the closing seconds. But the plan apparently fell apart in the Nets game, where the group bet the “under” on his rebounds and Beasley ended up with six boards.
Beasley, a prolific three-point shooter, finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2024/25 and looked set to land a lucrative multiyear deal with the Pistons in free agency. Those talks ended once it became public that federal investigators and the NBA were looking into him over a possible link to illegal betting. The 29-year-old later signed with Cangrejeros de Santurce, a Puerto Rican team owned by Bad Bunny, while he waits for his NBA future to be resolved.
The case makes Beasley and Davis the fourth and fifth former NBA players indicted by federal prosecutors in the ongoing illegal sports gambling probe, alongside Terry Rozier, Jontay Porter, and Damon Jones. Porter was permanently banned by the NBA after a league investigation found that he had shared confidential information with bettors. The other cases are still active.
NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said the league is reviewing the federal indictment and will continue to investigate.
“We are in the process of reviewing the federal indictment unsealed today involving Malik Beasley and Ed Davis. Beasley last played in the NBA during the 2024/25 season and Davis last played in the league during the 2021/22 season.
We will continue to investigate this matter and cooperate with the relevant authorities. We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
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