Former Nuggets player will plea guilty to illegal sports gambling

Malik Beasley, who spent the first four years of his NBA career, will plea guilty to illegal sports gambling, according to a report from The Athletic

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Oct 27, 2026, 7:12 PM

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Malik Beasley, who spent the first four years of his NBA career, will plea guilty to illegal sports gambling, according to a report from The Athletic.

The news site reports that the nine-year NBA veteran has plead guilty to federal charges stemming from a Department of Justice investigation. Beasley will enter his plea in a Brooklyn federal court on Dec. 9.

Beasley will be the second active NBA player, joining another with Nuggets ties, to plead guilty to charges that resulted from a federal investigation into gambling in pro basketball. Former Nuggets Summer League player and Micheal Porter Jr.’s brother, Jontay Porter, was the first NBA player to plea guilty, when in July of 2024 he admitted to his part in a separate but related gambling scheme. Porter has not been sentenced.

Beasley is in heat for a scheme that placed bets based on him manipulating specific plays he made so that conspirators could profit off of his prop bets. He allegedly manipulated his play in four games while with the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2023-24 season — between late January and March.

Beasley was selected by the Nuggets with the 19th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, a pick that was acquired in the Will Barton for Arron Afflalo. Beasley played 220 games for the Nuggets, having a solid role in the 2019 playoffs. He was traded with Juan Hernangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt to the Wolves in 2020 — a deal that netted the Nuggets the pick they used to select Zeke Nnaji.