Ex-Beasley teammate Ed Davis intends to plead guilty in NBA betting case
Ed Davis, a 12-year NBA veteran and former teammate of disgraced Minnesota Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley, intends to plead guilty to federal sports bribery charges, according to court filings.
Next month, Davis is scheduled to appear before US Magistrate Judge Taryn A. Merkl for a change of plea hearing. The hearing is scheduled to be held one day after Beasley, a former NBA guard, is scheduled to appear before Merkl for a plea hearing. Merkl, who joined the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York in 2021, signed the order on Monday.
According to a federal complaint, Beasley and Davis communicated via text to allegedly coordinate a prop-fixing scheme. The two players allegedly collaborated on the scheme during the 2023-24 season when Beasley started 77 games for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Selected in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft, Davis spent time with seven NBA teams, before concluding his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021-22. Several years earlier, Davis spent one season with the Brooklyn Nets, where he averaged 8.6 rebounds per game as a backup center. Davis, the 13th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, notched the rebound total in just 17.9 minutes per game with the Nets.
Since 2012, the Nets have played their home games at Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn, following the team’s move from New Jersey. Davis is scheduled to appear on 10 December at a federal courthouse located several miles from the arena.
Leaked texts on props
A McDonald’s All-American, Davis appeared in all 38 games for the University of North Carolina in 2008-09, a season in which the Tar Heels won the national championship. After receiving inclusion on the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2009, Davis returned to school for his sophomore year, where he started 23 games. Davis spent time with three NBA teams early in his career, before signing a three-year, $20 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2015.
Davis served as teammates with Beasley in Minnesota during the 2020-21 season, a COVID-shortened season when the Timberwolves failed to make the playoffs. In that season, Beasley averaged a career-high 20.5 points per game until a February suspension for a guilty plea in connection with brandishing a weapon. Beasley joined the Bucks in July 2023 on a veteran minimum contract.
According to the complaint, Davis texted Beasley on 29 Dec. 2023, the same day the Bucks faced the Nets in Brooklyn. Based on text messages intercepted by the federal government, Davis informed Beasley that the “only way you can beat Vegas is sports betting,” adding that the two could make “good money.”
Investigators examined further communications for games against the Cavaliers, Hornets, Clippers and Nets, over a two-month period through March 2024, court filings show. One game in particular has received considerable interest on social media.
A controversial rebound
In text messages between defendants, Beasley allegedly communicated on the expected total for specific game props, such as points and rebounds. From there, Davis then allegedly passed the non-public inside information to several co-conspirators, including Paolo Zamorano, Ernesto Plascencia, Robert Gorodetsky and William Brown, who allegedly placed wagers on the totals.
On 10 March 2024, Beasley appeared to expound a great deal of effort to collect a rebound in the final seconds vs. the Clippers. Beasley grabbed the board for his fourth of the night, topping the Over 3.5. With a seven-point lead in the waning seconds, the Bucks already secured the win.
Davis spent a portion of the 2022-23 season with Mets de Guaynabo, a Puerto Rican basketball team. Two months after his signing in February 2023, the team released Davis, marking the final stop of his professional career.
According to the federal complaint, Davis is facing charges on Wire fraud conspiracy, Bribery in sporting contests, Honest services wire fraud conspiracy and Money laundering conspiracy. Since 2024, a spate of professional athletes have been charged by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in gambling matters.
Two other former NBA players, Damon Jones and Jontay Porter, have pleaded guilty to sports betting-related charges in separate cases. An attorney for Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment from iGB.