New York: Ex-NBA Guard Malik Beasley Agrees to Plead Guilty in Betting Case

Former NBA guard Malik Beasley has agreed to plead guilty in the federal case accusing him of manipulating his own stats for bettors during the 2023-24 season, his lawyer confirmed on Oct. 27, 2026.

Beasley, 29, is set to enter the plea on Dec. 9, 2026, in federal court in Brooklyn, The Detroit News reported, citing court records. CBS Sports reported that the terms of the deal and the charges he will plead to have not been made public. He had initially pleaded not guilty to bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

The indictment alleges that Beasley lost millions of dollars gambling and agreed to adjust his performance in at least four games with the Milwaukee Bucks so others could bet on his stats, according to The Detroit News. He played for Denver, Minnesota, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee before joining the Detroit Pistons in 2024.

The court docket (No. 1:26-cr-00190, Eastern District of New York) shows Beasley is not the only defendant moving toward a deal. Four other defendants appeared with him at an Oct. 14, 2026, status conference: former NBA player Edward Davis, Robert Gorodetsky, Ernesto Plascencia and Paolo Zamorano. On Oct. 23, 2026, U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall referred Plascencia’s change of plea to a magistrate judge, according to the docket.

At that conference, the judge set a trial date of May 17, 2027, for the case and scheduled the next conference for Dec. 11, 2026. Her order excluded time under the Speedy Trial Act “to allow for additional plea negotiations and ongoing discovery.” Davis has pleaded not guilty, The Detroit News reported, citing The Athletic.

If Beasley goes through with the plea, he would be the second NBA player to plead guilty in a betting case, after Jontay Porter admitted to a wire fraud conspiracy charge in 2025, CBS Sports reported. Game Empress has also covered a college basketball betting case in which a point-shaving “fixer” was sentenced to six years.

Featured image: The Theodore Roosevelt U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn, where the Eastern District of New York sits, in 2013. Photo: Beyond My Ken / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)