Malik Beasley agrees to plead guilty

Former NBA player Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges tied to a betting scandal. His lawyer, Steve Haney, said the agreement with prosecutors has been completed. The details of the deal have not yet been shared.

In June, an indictment was filed against Beasley and five others. According to prosecutors, the defendants knowingly suppressed Beasley's performance in four Milwaukee Bucks games during the 2023/24 season. The aim was to profit people who were betting on player props. The indictment says Beasley had serious gambling debts and was part of the plan to pay them off. The defendants allegedly benefited from bets that Beasley's stats would fall short of their totals, after giving bettors advance information.

Beasley pleaded not guilty in July. He is expected to change his plea in Brooklyn federal court on December 9. Other defendants include Ed Davis, William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia and sports agent Paolo Zamorano. The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, sports bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Following these developments, the NBA told its authorized betting partners to suspend certain micro-betting and player prop markets for this season. The restrictions cover parlays that combine bets on a single player's stats falling short of their totals, "first" markets such as first basket, first three-pointer, first rebound, first assist, first steal or first block, and bets on the result of the opening tip and whether specific shots will be missed. The restriction was imposed because league-wide integrity concerns remain.