Former NBA guard Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from an alleged sports gambling scheme, reversing his earlier not-guilty plea.
Changing Up
Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, confirmed the plea agreement to multiple news outlets.
Beasley, 29, initially pleaded not guilty on July 1 but later negotiated a deal with the Department of Justice, The Athletic reported.
He is scheduled to formally change his plea on Dec. 9, in federal court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors accused Beasley of conspiring with bettors to manipulate his performance in at least four Milwaukee Bucks games during the 2023-24 season, allowing gamblers to profit from prop bets.
According to the indictment, the games were selected in part because they were not nationally televised. Beasley allegedly agreed to underperform or overperform in scoring and rebounding to help repay millions of dollars in gambling losses, The New York Post reported.
He faces federal charges of bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that Beasley had accumulated substantial gambling debts and borrowed money from former NBA player Ed Davis before becoming involved in the scheme.
The two were teammates on the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2020-21 NBA season.
Davis and his agent, Paolo Zamorano, were also charged in the case and pleaded not guilty, according to earlier reports.
Beasley played for six NBA teams: the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Detroit Pistons.
Selected by the Denver in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft out of Florida State, Beasley last played for Detroit during the 2024-25 season. He averaged 16.3 points per game and finished second in voting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award, ESPN reported.
His career earnings totaled just under $60 million.
Before the federal investigation became public in 2025, Beasley was negotiating a three-year, $42 million contract to return to Detroit.
The Pistons withdrew the offer after learning of the probe, and Beasley has not played in the NBA since.
Earlier this year, he played for the Santurce Crabbers in Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional, a team owned by rapper Bad Bunny.
Beasley would become the second player connected to the broader NBA gambling investigation to plead guilty. Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in July 2024 to his role in a separate but related betting scheme. The NBA subsequently banned him for life.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is scheduled to stand trial in February after prosecutors accused him of leaving a game early as part of a betting scheme. Rozier has denied the charges through his attorneys.
As Finurah previously reported in October 2025, the broader federal investigation also ensnared Basketball Hall of Famer and then-Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups. He pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an alleged rigged poker operation prosecutors linked to organized-crime families.
More than 30 people were arrested in the investigation, which involved two alleged schemes: illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
Several co-defendants in Beasley’s case have already pleaded guilty or were expected to enter guilty pleas, including William Brown, Ernesto Plascencia and sports bettor Robert Gorodetsky.