Former NBA players Malik Beasley and Ed Davis have been indicted in the latest round of charges in the government’s gambling investigation, authorities said Monday.
When he was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, Beasley agreed to tailor his performance based on betting trends in those games, prosecutors alleged. They have accused Beasley of coordinating with Davis ahead of NBA games to decide whether he should underperform or overperform on the court. They alleged that Davis acted as Beasley’s “gatekeeper” in the scheme.
“Bribery and insider betting schemes like this one involving former NBA players and a current NBA player agent 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.
Along with Beasely and Davis, the indictment charged four co-conspirators, identified as William Brown, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia and Paolo Zamorano, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Zamorano is an NBA player agent, the office said.
All six of them have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, bribery in sporting contests, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy for their alleged roles in the gambling scheme, according to prosecutors. The office said several defendants were arrested Monday at different locations across the U.S., and each will be arraigned in New York.
Beasley’s attorney was not immediately available for comment. The identity of Davis’ lawyer was not immediately known.
Nocella said the scheme involved hundreds of thousands of dollars. Davis, who has been out of the NBA since 2022, was among those placing bets on Beasley’s performance, the indictment states.
In April, former NBA player Damon Jones, 49, became the first person to plead guilty in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.
Jones entered guilty pleas to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in schemes to defraud major sportsbooks, including DraftKings and FanDuel, and filch millions of dollars from unwitting poker players.
Jones said he used “insider information” through his relationships in the NBA to gain an edge in sports bets.
Beasley last played for the Detroit Pistons in the 2024-25 season, averaging 16 points. He is one of five players in NBA history with more than 300 3-pointers in a season; he made 319 in 2024-25 and has not played in the NBA since because of his involvement in the betting investigations. He played briefly for a team in Puerto Rico earlier this year.
Davis was a journeyman who was primarily a backup in his 12-year career that saw him play for eight different franchises and earn roughly $48 million in gross salary. He averaged 5.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and last appeared in the NBA in 2022.
Beasley and Davis briefly were teammates in Minnesota in the 2020-21 season.