Ex-NBA guard Malik Beasley to plead guilty after involvement in gambling scheme

Longtime former NBA guard Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to illegal sports gambling, his attorney told both The Athletic and ESPN on Tuesday.

Beasley, who was arrested earlier this summer, will officially enter his plea Dec. 9 in New York.

Beasley was indicted in June on federal charges related to a sports betting scheme alongside former NBA veteran Ed Davis. The duo, who played together for the Minnesota Timberwolves, were accused of working together to manipulate Beasley's performance in four games during the 2023-24 campaign. Beasley was on the Milwaukee Bucks at the time, and Davis was out of the league.

Beasley reportedly owed millions of dollars in a gambling debt, which led to Davis loaning Beasley money. But in order to pay off that debt, Beasley and Davis reportedly decided to launch a betting scheme. They allegedly worked with three others to place tens of thousands of dollars on a game that Beasley played in against the Cleveland Cavaliers that season. Beasley ended up scoring just three points in that game, well below his season average of 11.3 points per contest. Beasley is also accused of rigging a game against the Charlotte Hornets in similar fashion that same season.

Beasley has not played in the league since the 2024-25 season, which was one of the best in his career. He averaged 16.3 points per game, his best output in years, and finished second in the Sixth Man of the Year race while with the Detroit Pistons. He was due for a big payday after that season, too, but his free agency was interrupted both by a federal gambling investigation and an NBA investigation into Beasley. He went unsigned and hasn't played since.

Prosecutors alleged that Davis was in charge of the scheme. They were two of six men indicted in the scheme.

Beasley is the second active NBA player to plead guilty to charges related to gambling in the NBA. Jontay Porter was the first and pleaded guilty in July 2024 amid a separate but similar scheme. The NBA banned him for life in 2024 . It's unclear if Beasley will face that same fate.