The Malik Beasley investigation: 5 things that caught my eye
Did the wing under federal investigation exit any games early like Jontay Porter?
On Sunday afternoon, ESPN’s Shams Charania dropped a bombshell.
NBA veteran Malik Beasley is under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office for gambling-related irregularities.
Beasley, who played for the Detroit Pistons last season, was set to be a free agent this week. The federal investigation, according to Charania’s reporting, isn’t focused on 2024-25 season, but rather the season before it when he was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. From Charania:
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.
Lots to get into here. The NBA said they are fully cooperating with the federal investigation. I’m sure they’ll be leaning on their sportsbook partnerships to get more intel. These are just allegations at the moment. There are no charges that have been filed yet.
On Sunday, I did some of my own digging.
What did I find?
Here are five things that caught my eye:
