Malik Beasley
AP Photo/Duane Burleson
The NBA world was quick to do some digging for suspicious plays after it was reported that free agent Malik Beasley was being investigating for gambling.
On Sunday, ESPN insider Shams Charania reported that Beasley was being investigated by federal authorities on allegations of gambling. The investigation, sources told ESPN, focused on Beasley’s time with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season. This past season, Beasley was a member of the Detroit Pistons.
The report continued:
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.
As a result of the report, a number of plays involving Beasley were put under the microscope — even some that weren’t from that 2023 season.
At the end of a February 2021 game, for example, Beasley scored a last-second basket against the Los Angeles Clippers when he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Although the game was well out of reach and the Clippers’ victory was assured, the shot decreased their lead on the Timberwolves from nine to seven. The Timberwolves were supposedly 8.5-point underdogs — though CBS’s sportsbook had them at 10.5 — and Beasley’s shot allowed them to cover the spread.
Malik Beasley goes coast-to-coast with no time left to cut lead from 9 to 7 –– and Timberwolves +8.5 is covered
He scored 7 last minute of game
February 10, 2021 – the day after he was sentenced to jail for pointing a rifle at a family, which also resulted in an NBA suspension pic.twitter.com/mAC3Qsd04f
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 29, 2025
That wasn’t the last play social media users would take interest in.
Should the investigation discover that Beasley did indeed bet on NBA games, he could face the same punishment that was handed to former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, a lifetime ban.