Former NBA Players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis Indicted in Sports Gambling Scheme

Former NBA players Malik Beasley and Edward Davis were indicted Monday alongside sports agent Paolo Zamorano and three other individuals on charges connected to an alleged scheme to manipulate NBA games for betting purposes.  

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn allege that Beasley agreed to underperform or overperform in specific statistical categories during games while he played for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, allowing Davis and other co-conspirators to place bets with inside knowledge of how he intended to play. 

According to the unsealed indictment, the scheme dates back to a January 26, 2024, matchup between the Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, when Beasley allegedly told Davis, then his Bucks teammate, that he planned to fall short of his typical rebounding numbers. Prosecutors say Davis then passed that information to others involved so they could place wagers built around the tip. 

Additional examples cited in the indictment include a February 2024 game against the Charlotte Hornets and a March 2024 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, both of which allegedly involved similar arrangements tied to Beasley's scoring and rebounding output. 

Authorities say the group collectively wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars across multiple sportsbooks, likely including some of the best sports betting sites, based on the arrangement. US Attorney Joseph Nocella said the defendants turned the sport into what amounted to a criminal betting operation that hurt legitimate operators and the betting public alike. 

Beasley's attorney pushed back on the allegations, noting that an indictment represents only a one-sided account of probable cause and asking the public to withhold judgment until the case plays out further. Beasley has not played in the NBA since the investigation became public. 

League adds new betting safeguards 

The charges against Beasley and Davis arrive as the NBA continues working through the fallout of a broader gambling investigation that has already ensnared other current and former figures in the league. The league office has responded by tightening how games and player data are presented to bettors in the first place. 

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the league began rolling out new policies in December last year aimed at limiting the kind of inside information that fueled past schemes. Teams will now be required to resubmit injury reports between 11 am and 1 pm local time on game days and refresh those public listings every 15 minutes, a sharp increase in reporting frequency meant to reduce the value of advance knowledge about a player's availability. 

The league is also reportedly pressing best sports betting apps to restructure how they structure player-specific prop bets. Proposed changes include capping the maximum wager on a single prop, restricting "Under" bets in particular, narrowing the pool of eligible players for these wagers, and removing certain bet types altogether, such as those tied to the outcome of a single play.