What began as an investigation into suspicious betting activity has continued to spread across professional basketball, with another pair of former NBA players now at the center of the federal government's expanding case. Malik Beasley and Ed Davis have been indicted on multiple federal charges tied to an alleged scheme that prosecutors say involved manipulated player performances and illegal sports wagers.
According to NBC News, the newly unsealed indictment alleges that Beasley agreed to alter aspects of his on-court performance during the 2023-24 season while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. Federal authorities claim Davis, who retired from the NBA in 2022, helped organize the arrangement by extending Beasley loans after the guard reportedly accumulated significant gambling debt. In exchange, prosecutors allege Beasley accepted bribes used to reduce or satisfy those debts, while Davis and other alleged co-conspirators placed wagers tied to Beasley's individual statistics.
“Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players ... who exploited inside NBA information for profit erode the integrity of American sports and victimize the sports-watching public,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
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A Sprawling Gambling Probe That Involved Several Others
Rather than accusing the defendants of influencing game outcomes, prosecutors focused on prop bets involving specific statistical categories. Court filings describe alleged agreements involving Beasley's points and rebounds in several Bucks games, claiming bettors used advance knowledge of those performances to place wagers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Authorities also allege one of the planned bets failed after Beasley exceeded the targeted rebounding total during a March 2024 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.
The indictment charges Beasley, Davis, and four others with offenses including wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. Davis was taken into custody following the indictment, while Beasley was not in custody as of Monday (June 29). Attorneys representing both former players had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of publication.
