Malik Beasley, a nine-year NBA veteran, has been indicted on sports gambling charges by federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Ed Davis, a former lottery pick who spent 12 seasons in the NBA, has also been indicted.
Federal prosecutors say that Davis and Beasley got close while teammates with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2020-21 season. Davis then allegedly collaborated with Beasley to manipulate his performance four times during the 2023-24 season while Beasley was with the Milwaukee Bucks. Prosecutors allege that their scheme began with the Jan. 26, 2024 Bucks-Cleveland Cavaliers game.
“Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” Davis texted Beasley about a month ahead of that game, according to the indictment. “Everything else they got the edge.”
Federal prosecutors say that Beasley had millions of dollars in gambling losses and that Davis loaned him money. Beasley, prosecutors say, worked off that debt as part of this betting scheme. Davis and Beasley then allegedly worked with three others to bet on Beasley, according to the indictment. One of the men involved was Davis’ former NBA agent Paolo Zamorano, according to the indictment. Investigators allege that group bet tens of thousands of dollars on the Bucks-Cavaliers game.
Beasley averaged 11.3 points during the 2023-24 season for the Bucks but scored just three points against the Cavs.
Prosecutors also allege Beasley rigged his performance during a Bucks-Charlotte Hornets game on Feb. 27, 2024, a March 10 game against the LA Clippers and a March 21 game against the Brooklyn Nets.
The bettors placed money on Beasley to hit the over on his rebounds against the Clippers, then celebrated when he did with his fourth rebound in the game’s final seconds, according to the indictment.
The scheme went awry, according to prosecutors, after Beasley could not hit the under on his rebounds for the game against the Nets. Soon, Porter was publicly revealed to be under investigation.
Beasley has been under investigation for over a year. The Detroit Pistons offered Beasley a three-year, $42 million contract last offseason, then rescinded their offer when the Pistons were notified that Beasley was facing a federal investigation.
Davis, who played for eight teams over his NBA career, spent his last season in the NBA with Cleveland in 2021-22.
Federal prosecutors indicted former NBA player Ed Davis, here with the Portland Trail Blazers, on illegal gambling charges. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Beasley and Davis bringing the total to five current or former NBA players to be indicted by federal prosecutors as part of a wide-reaching investigation into illegal sports gambling in the NBA and insider information trading. Terry Rozier is currently facing four charges in the Eastern District, while former Raptors center Jontay Porter pled guilty last July to one federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Damon Jones, an 11-year NBA veteran, pled guilty in April to charges stemming from that case as well.
Prosecutors allege that Rozier agreed to take a $100,000 bribe to take himself out early from a March 2023 game while he was with the Charlotte Hornets. He told a friend he would leave the game early. That friend, Deniro Laster, sold the information to a group of sports gamblers who wagered on Rozier’s statistics through prop bets. Laster has also been indicted and is facing charges as well. He has pleaded not guilty.
Rozier has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. A trial date has been set for Feb. 8, 2027.
It is unclear exactly what charges Beasley is facing. He was a first-round pick in the 2016 draft and has played for the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Pistons.
