Federal authorities are investigating Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley on allegations of gambling related to NBA games and prop bets, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
The allegations are from the 2023-24 season, when Beasley played for the Milwaukee Bucks, sources said. Beasley averaged 11.3 points in 79 games that season, during which he made a career-high 77 starts.
At least one prominent U.S. sportsbook detected unusually heavy betting interest on Beasley’s statistics beginning around January 2024, a gambling industry source told ESPN’s David Purdum.
A gambling industry source pointed to a game between the Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 31, 2024. The odds on Beasley recording fewer than 2.5 rebounds moved significantly at sportsbooks before the game, shortening from around +120 to around -250 due to a surge of action on the under. Beasley finished with six rebounds, and the bets that were deemed unusual lost.
“An investigation is not a charge,” Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, told ESPN. “Malik is afforded the same right of the presumption of innocence as anyone else under the U.S. Constitution. As of now he has not been charged with anything.”
Haney told ABC News in a brief phone interview Sunday afternoon that he has been in touch with prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, which he understands is leading the investigation.
Beasley, 28, and the Pistons were in talks on a three-year, $42 million contract to bring the free agent sharpshooter back to Detroit but now talks are on pause, sources said.
The Pistons told ESPN on Sunday that they are aware of an investigation into Beasley and are deferring further comment to the NBA.
“We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.
The nine-year veteran averaged 16.3 points while appearing in all 82 games last season, his first with the Pistons. He made 319 3-pointers, the most in a season in Pistons franchise history.
Last year, former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned by the NBA after a league investigation found Porter disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was under federal investigation for activity related to unusual betting patterns surrounding him in a March 2023 game when he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier has not been charged with any crime, nor has he faced any sanction from the NBA.
In 2020, when Beasley played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of threats of violence and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, which he served after the 2020-21 season. He also was suspended for 12 games by the NBA in 2021 as a result of the guilty plea.
Beasley has been a journeyman since spending his first six seasons with the Denver Nuggets and Timberwolves; the Pistons were his fifth team in four years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.