The fishy bets lost
With the excitement of the Oklahoma City Thunder winning its first NBA championship, the aftermath of the draft, and the imminent start of free agency, a shadow has been cast on the NBA, as Detroit Pistons three-point sharpshooter Malik Beasley is under federal investigation for a possible connection to alleged suspicious betting on NBA games.
unusually heavy betting activity on prop bets involving Beasley starting in January 2024
According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania and gambling industry reporter David Purdum, “at least one prominent US sportsbook” reported unusually heavy betting activity on prop bets involving Beasley starting in January 2024, when he was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
One specific instance of suspicious betting stemmed from a January 31, 2024 game between the Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers. The “under” 2.5 rebounds prop bet for Beasley moved dramatically before the game, from +120 to -250; lots of money suddenly believed Beasley would not snare at least three rebounds. Beasley ended up with six rebounds, so all those bets were losers.
Beasley’s attorney emphasized to ESPN that charges have not been filed and this is just an investigation at this point.
It is terrible timing for Beasley, who, with the league’s free agency period opening Monday afternoon, was reportedly set to sign a three-year, $42m contract with Detroit. The team has now put that on hold.
Smells of Jontay Porter
The investigation comes just over a year after the Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for life for manipulating his playing time and disclosing confidential information to bettors so that those bettors could win prop bets on him coming in under certain statistical marks.
Porter left the game after just four minutes
Two games, specifically, were highlighted in the investigation. Against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 26, 2024, Porter left the game after just four minutes, saying he aggravated an existing eye injury. He ended up with zero points, three rebounds, and one assist, all good for the under on his prop bets.
Two months later against the Sacramento Kings, he again exited early, this time saying he was sick. He finished with zero points and just two rebounds.
Among other actions that led to Porter and his co-conspirators getting caught was that one of the group bet $80,000 on Porter hitting the under props against the Kings to win $1.1m. This was a major red flag, as the normal maximum stake on these types of bets was $1,000 to $2,000.
Porter probe extended to Terry Rozier
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier was under federal investigation as part of the same probe that uncovered Porter’s wrongdoing.
The suspicious betting occurred two years prior, in March 2023, when Rozier was on the Charlotte Hornets, and it sounds very similar to Porter’s situation. On March 23, 2023, Rozier played the first nine and a half minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans, but did not play further, supposedly because of a problem with his foot. He finished with five points, four rebounds, and two assists, not coming close to his over/under prop bets.
Some bettors complained to sportsbooks on social media, saying something seemed off, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, as losing bettors often complain. Interestingly, though, some sportsbooks took down Rozier prop bets a few hours before the game.
