Malik Beasley has finally been cleared of a federal gambling probe after a months-long investigation. To his credit, Beasley continued to state his innocence throughout the saga and appeared confident that he would return to the league next season. Still, his offseason and future were dramatically impacted by this event and he might not be the last NBA player that suffers such consequences.
Malik Beasley: Victim of the Sports Gambling Complex
News of the investigation into Beasley broke just before free agency opened for the NBA. There were reports that the Pistons were ready to offer him a contract for three years and worth $42 million after his historic shooting last season. Unfortunately, the Pistons (and other teams) did not feel confident enough to extend him an offer after that news came out.
For a man who has signed single-year deals for near-minimum amounts in the last two offseasons, three years and a significant pay raise would have meant great stability. Beasley has also been on four teams in the last three seasons, so staying in Detroit long-term would have offered continuity in that sense as well. Now he will likely have to choose between a smaller one-year deal with the Pistons or signing somewhere less appealing.
Unfortunately for Beasley, he was never given the grace of being considered innocent until proven guilty. NBA teams felt it was too risky to extend him a contract, and fans slandered him relentlessly online. Personal information about his finances was even reported in national media, and his reputation has been thoroughly damaged by this whole affair.
And after all that, the federal investigators have determined that he didn’t even do anything wrong. The suspicions around him were entirely due to the actions of some sports bettors (who didn’t even win money in the suspicious bets), rather than any discrepancy in his play.
Beasley is one of the first NBA players to be investigated for connections to suspicious betting patterns, but it’s unlikely that he’ll be the last. Two other players, Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier, have also gone under investigation in the last couple seasons. As sports gambling continues to grow and the NBA continues to promote it by partnering with sportsbooks, the possibility of cases like these (whether the player is innocent or not) will only rise.
Beasley absolutely received the short end of the stick in this investigation. The news breaking right before he entered unrestricted free agency meant that he was not able to fall back on a contract as he rode out the storm of speculation.
And the NBA should have done more to protect him, whether that was keeping the investigation under wraps until a conclusion was reached or acting to slow the roll of sports betting in general. Major news stories breaking any time there is inconsistent betting on an NBA player or team won’t just be bad for those coming under fire, but also terrible for the league as a whole.