Sports

/

ArcaMax

FBI just one problem facing Malik Beasley amid $8M in escalating financial problems

Robert Snell, The Detroit News on

Published in Basketball

DETROIT — Malik Beasley thrived on the basketball court last season for the Detroit Pistons while coping with a federal gambling investigation and more than $8 million worth of financial problems that include being sued twice by his Detroit landlord and having part of his Pistons paycheck seized, public records show.

Court records obtained by The Detroit News paint a picture of a turbulent personal life as Beasley experienced a career breakthrough with the Pistons last season and while debts mounted from a celebrity barber, a dentist, a landlord, a lender and a marketing firm.

The court records and details about a years-long history of financial problems are emerging as FBI agents conduct an investigation involving Beasley that is focused on wire fraud, gambling and prop bets. Beasley, who has signed NBA contracts worth more than $59 million during his career, has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the Pistons have pulled back on a three-year, $42 million offer amid the FBI investigation involving the free agent, according to a source familiar with the offer who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

Last year, he signed a one-year, $6 million contract with Detroit and played a crucial role in the team's resurgence. He finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, averaging 16.3 points on 41.6% shooting from 3. Beasley was also one of three players who finished the regular season with at least 300 3-pointers made, joining Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry.

“I have been with Malik for a long time, I have seen a lot of people around him come and go, but I have stayed away from any of his financial management or mismanagement or decisions he would make with money,” Beasley’s criminal defense lawyer, Steve Haney, told The News on Tuesday.

“I’m his lawyer. I don’t get involved in his finances,” he added. “You hope to get them around the best business people and planners and management people. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.”

Beasley was sued in April by Hazan Sports Management Group Inc., a boutique New York-based agency. The firm accused Beasley of failing to repay $650,000 in cash that was given to him as an advance against future marketing revenue from his name, image and likeness, according to a federal complaint obtained by The News.

Hazan made "a substantial investment of time, effort, and resources in a player with known issues (including and especially financial issues) ... when they took him on as a client and provided him with a substantial marketing advance in anticipation of helping Beasley become one of the premier players at his position," the lawsuit reads.

Beasley fired the firm in February, the lawsuit alleges.

"In the ensuing weeks following Beasley’s termination, (Hazan) made several attempts to collect the full amount of the marketing advance but received little more than drips and drabs of sporadic payments and vague promises to repay the balance over time," Hazan lawyer Daniel Marcus wrote in the lawsuit.

Hazan wants at least $2.25 million for alleged breach of contract.

Beasley was served with a copy of the lawsuit at The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad hotel in New York City on April 21, but has not responded to the lawsuit. That night, Beasley scored nine points as the Pistons beat the New York Knicks, 100-94, in Game 2 of their playoff series.

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in New York more than three years after a company that specializes in loaning money to professional athletes won a nearly $5.8 million judgment against Beasley in Maryland, court records show. The company, South River Capital, LLC, has loaned more than $250 million to athletes in recent years.

 

A copy of the judgment was filed in Minnesota in 2022 when Beasley was playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It is unclear why Beasley borrowed money from South River Capital.

“It is very common for professional athletes to go to third-party lenders and get advances on contracts. It’s a part of the business of professional sports,” Haney told The News. “Many of these lenders are predatory and charge extremely high interest rates and outrageous fees that border on usury.”

Almost one year ago, in August, Beasley signed a deal with a Florida firm that provides bridge loans to pro athletes. As collateral, Beasley pledged his current and future NBA contracts, according to a copy of the financing statement obtained by The News.

Beasley's most recent financial problems have been the smallest.

In March, Beasley was sued in Detroit's 36th District Court for failing to pay $14,150 in rent at The Stott. The historic high-rise apartment building in downtown Detroit is owned by Bedrock Detroit, the real estate arm of the business empire built by Dan Gilbert, who owns the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

The lawsuit was dismissed in late March.

Last month, Beasley was sued again by The Stott for failing to pay $7,355 in rent. A hearing is scheduled for July 15.

In January, a celebrity barbershop with a long roster of NBA stars won a $26,827 judgment against Beasley. The barbershop, Cairo Cuts, operates in Milwaukee, where Beasley played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 2022-24.

The judgment marked a falling out from spring 2024 when Beasley was featured in one of the barber's Instagram feeds. One post showed Beasley in the barber chair with a caption touting how he was "playoff ready."

Meanwhile, in January, a Minnesota dentist won a $34,390 default judgment against Beasley, according to court records. The dentist, Hassan Alshehabi of Delicate Smiles, started garnishing Beasley's paychecks from the Pistons in February, court records show.

The debt has not been satisfied, according to court records. Alshehabi did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.


©2025 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus