NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Malik Beasley鈥檚 lawyer said the indicted former NBA star 鈥渨ants to move on with his life鈥� after pleading not guilty Wednesday to charges that he altered his play in certain games in 2024 to enrich sports bettors and ease his own debts.
Beasley, the latest big name caught up in a , said little at his arraignment in Brooklyn federal court. He answered a judge’s questions with 鈥測es, your honor鈥� but let his lawyer, Jason Goldman, enter his plea on his behalf.
Afterward, the 6-foot-4 (1.92 meter) shooting guard stood quietly as Goldman spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, demurring when one asked if he had anything to say to his fans. Beasley, who played for six NBA teams in nine years, missed the most recent season because he was under investigation. Instead, he played for a Puerto Rican team co-owned by the rapper Bad Bunny.
鈥淗e looks forward to fighting. He鈥檚 fought every day,鈥� Goldman said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 presumed innocent and that has to mean something still, obviously.”
Beasley, 29, and sports agent Paolo Zamorano, who also pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, were among six people charged in an .
They are the newest defendants in a gambling sweep that has netted more than three dozen arrests, including former Miami Heat star , who was accused of conspiring with friends to help them win bets, and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, who was accused of conspiring to fix high-stakes poker games.
Zamorano, 39, formerly represented another co-defendant, ex-NBA player Ed Davis, who had loaned money to Beasley and is accused of acting as his 鈥済atekeeper” in the alleged scheme.
鈥淲e look forward to our day in court,” Zamorano鈥檚 lawyer, Kenneth Breen, told reporters.
Beasley and Zamorano were both released on bond. They’re due back in court for a status conference on Aug. 6.
Beasley is accused of fixing or trying to fix his performance in at least four games while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024 by under or overperforming bookmakers’ expectations. In exchange, the indictment said, the bettors bribed Beasley and his debts to Davis were reduced or eliminated.
鈥淥nly way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,鈥� Davis told Beasley in a Jan. 26, 2024, text message, according to the indictment. 鈥淓verything else they got the edge.鈥�
In one example, according to the indictment, Beasley told Davis that he would try to outperform the 3.5 line that sportsbooks had set for his rebound total in Milwaukee鈥檚 game against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 10, 2024.
With a second left, and the Bucks up by seven points, Beasley challenged a Clippers shot and dashed past four players to grab his fourth rebound and securing a win for the bettors as the horn sounded.
One bettor made a $3,252 profit on a $2,838 wager, the indictment said, and another made a $2,107 profit on wagers totaling $2,400. Other bettors missed out and lost money, mistakenly placing wagers on Beasley to underperform the rebound total because of an apparent miscommunication, the indictment said.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 funny is after he got it he had a big sigh of relief,鈥� a co-conspirator said in a text message, according to the indictment.
Beasley borrowed money from Davis, a former teammate, after racking up millions of dollars in gambling losses. His financial problems include disputes with a Detroit landlord, a Milwaukee barber and a Minnesota dentist. A 2025 lawsuit from a sports marketing agency resulted in a $1 million default judgment against him.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bigger conversation here about the industry, about individuals and institutions that are profiting billions and billions of dollars and fueling the addiction,鈥� Goldman said.
has been aware of the investigation for about a year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Weintraub said.
He last played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons on a one-year, $6 million contract in the 2024-2025 season. He averaged 16 points per game and scored 20 in his last game, a playoff loss to the New York Knicks. He is one of five players in NBA history with more than 300 three-pointers in a season.
Beasley’s release was secured by his parents, actors Michael and Deena Beasley, who joined the arraignment by phone from their home in Georgia. Stone-faced for most of the hourlong proceeding, Beasley laughed at his mother’s answer to Magistrate Judge Taryn Merkl’s question about how often they talk to each other.
鈥淚 probably call him every day. He might not answer every day,鈥� Deena Beasley said, prompting chuckles in the courtroom. 鈥淚f I call him six times a week, he’ll answer five times.鈥�
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