This story has been updated
Former Milwaukee Bucks guard Malik Beasley is under federal investigation for gambling on NBA games while he played for the Bucks during the 2023-24 season.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel that, “We are cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation.”
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The Milwaukee Bucks had no comment when reached by the Journal Sentinel. The Detroit Pistons, Beasley’s team for last season, told the Detroit Free Press they are aware of the investigation but had no further comment.
Beasley, 28, signed a one-year free agent deal to play with the Bucks in the summer of 2023 and shot a career-best 41.3% from behind the 3-point line while averaging 11.3 points per game in 79 starts. In a six-game playoff loss to Indiana, he shot 44% from distance.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Malik Beasley celebrates his 3-point basket during the second half March 21, 2024 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. The Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets, 115-108.
Beasley played the 2024-25 season in Detroit and helped the Pistons return to the playoffs for the first time in six years and started every game. ESPN, which first reported the investigation, said a long-term contract with the Pistons is now on hold.
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The NBA banned Jontay Porter for life in April, 2024 for gambling on his own performance in games he played in while with the Toronto Raptors. Porter, who plead guilty in the federal case, was part of a six-person gambling ring.
In a statement to ESPN Beasley’s attorney Steve Haney said, “An investigation is not a charge. Malik is afforded the same right of the presumption of innocence as anyone else under the U.S. constitution. As of now he has not been charged with anything.”
Haney represented Beasley in 2021 when the guard faced felony gun charges and ultimately served jail time and was suspended by the league for a dozen games.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Bucks guard Malik Beasley under investigation for gambling