Another NBA Player Charged With Rigging Games for Gamblers

 Bets on a particular player's performance open the door to sinister influences in sports.

The WSJ has the story:

Another NBA Player Charged With Rigging Games for Gamblers
According to a federal indictment, Malik Beasley was in debt to a former teammate when he agreed to help gamblers by manipulating his own performance. By Jared Diamond  and Robert O’Connell 

"The government’s indictment identifies four games during the 2023-24 season where it said Beasley agreed to participate in the scam. Beasley had allegedly accumulated millions of dollars in gambling losses and, at times, owed money to Davis, a retired forward who played with Beasley on the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2020-21 campaign. In return for fixing his games, Beasley would have his bill to Davis reduced or eliminated, according to the indictment. 

"The charges against the 29-year-old Beasley are yet another example of a prominent NBA player swept up in illegal gambling activities—and the implications for the league are chilling. On Jan. 26, 2024, the day Jontay Porter removed himself from a Toronto Raptors game with a fake injury so his conspirators would win bets, there was another game on the take 500 miles away. (Porter has since pleaded guilty to federal charges and is awaiting sentencing.) 

...

"Once Beasley was on board, the next question was which games to target. The government says the gamblers specifically looked for non-marquee games—far from the NBA’s nationally televised showcases on ESPN and TNT—where Beasley could manipulate his performance.

“It’s better not to be on tv for us,” one defendant wrote in a group chat.

"There was also infighting among the group, with some bettors chasing big paydays while others settled for more modest wins. At one point, one defendant accused another of betting so much that he single-handedly altered the lines, which risked drawing suspicions from authorities. "