Beasley, Davis indicted in NBA prop bet scheme
SkimNews Take
Prop bets concentrate manipulation risk onto individual players in a way traditional wagers don't, since outcomes hinge on actions only the athlete and their inner circle can directly shape.
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- Malik Beasley and Ed Davis are among six defendants indicted in the Eastern District of New York on charges of rigging at least four games during the 2023-24 season, with co-conspirators placing fraudulent wagers on Beasley's stat lines while he was with the Milwaukee Bucks.
- The indictment cites a Jan. 26, 2024 Bucks-Cavaliers game in which Beasley finished with 3 rebounds (under the 3.5 line) after telling Davis he would underperform, and a March 10, 2024 game against the Clippers where Beasley grabbed his fourth rebound in the final second after telling Davis he planned to go over the line.
- Co-conspirators placed wagers totaling more than $75,000 with net winnings of at least $121,000, and prosecutors say Beasley received bribes often used to pay off debts he owed Davis, whom the indictment calls his "gatekeeper."
- Ed Davis texted Beasley in December 2023, "Only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting. We can make some good money," and co-defendant William Brown texted about Beasley pushing teammate Pat Connaughton aside to grab the last-second rebound against the Clippers.
- Beasley and Davis are the fifth and sixth current or former NBA players named in federal gambling indictments in the past two years; co-conspirator Damon Jones has pleaded guilty in the separate inside-information case involving Terry Rozier.
- Paolo Zamorano, Davis's agent, was also charged but not in custody as of Monday; Beasley's attorney Steve Haney said the ex-player would voluntarily surrender this week and "maintains Malik's innocence of all charges."
- Beasley has struggled financially despite earning nearly $60 million in his career — a judge ordered him to pay $1 million to his former agency over an unpaid $650,000 advance last March, and he was evicted from a Detroit high-rise over $21,505 in unpaid rent as he was negotiating a potential three-year, $42 million Pistons deal.
Why it matters: Two more high-profile names land in the Eastern District of New York's expanding NBA gambling crackdown, with prosecutors explicitly alleging Beasley "allowed himself to be bought." The indictment's text-message evidence — real-time instructions to underperform and a teammate reportedly shoved aside for a prop bet rebound — could reshape how the league and sportsbooks police player stat markets.
