Beasley Agrees to Plead Guilty in Federal Sports Gambling Case

Malik Beasley will plead guilty on Dec. 9 in Brooklyn federal court, his attorney Steve Haney told ESPN and The Athletic on Tuesday. Beasley was indicted in June 2026 alongside five other defendants on charges of bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. He first pleaded not guilty on July 1; his then-attorney said he wanted to "move on with his life." Prosecutors allege that while with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023-24 he manipulated his statistics in four games—against Cleveland on Jan. 26, Charlotte on Feb. 27, the Clippers on March 10 and Brooklyn on March 21—so bettors could win prop wagers. They say that in the Cleveland game he told Ed Davis he would underperform rebounding and finished with 3 rebounds and 3 points, and that going over his rebounding prop against Brooklyn started the scheme unraveling. Ed Davis has pleaded not guilty. Beasley made nearly $60 million across six teams, averaging 11.7 points in 578 games. In 2024-25 with Detroit he averaged 16.3 points, shot 41.6% from three, made 319 threes and finished Sixth Man of the Year runner-up. Fans reacting to Shams Charania's report wrote he "threw it all away to make extra pennies," "It's over bro," "This is insane!" and "Yeah bro is not gonna see daylight ever again." WHAT'S CONTESTED: Which counts the plea covers and any proposed sentence have not been disclosed. Beasley has not entered the plea. He is the second NBA player to plead guilty in these federal probes; Jontay Porter pleaded guilty in July 2024.