Malik Beasley’s 2024–25 season with the Detroit Pistons was, on the surface, a career renaissance. The veteran guard averaged 16.3 points per game, shot over 41% from beyond the arc, and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
He was one of only three players in the league to hit 300 three-pointers, joining elite company in Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards. But while Beasley was lighting up the scoreboard, court records and federal investigations were quietly unraveling a far more troubling narrative off the court.
According to documents obtained by The Detroit News, Beasley’s personal life was spiraling into financial chaos, with more than $8 million in debts and a growing list of creditors that included a celebrity barber, a dentist, a landlord, a lender, and a marketing firm.
Beasley’s financial troubles are not new, but they’ve intensified in recent months. In January, a Milwaukee-based barbershop called Cairo Cuts, popular among NBA players, won a $26,827 judgment against him for unpaid services dating back to his time with the Bucks. Around the same time, a Minnesota dentist, Dr. Hassan Alshehabi of Delicate Smiles, secured a $34,390 default judgment and began garnishing Beasley’s Pistons paychecks in February.
His housing situation in Detroit also became a legal battleground. Beasley was sued twice by The Stott, a luxury apartment complex in downtown Detroit, for unpaid rent totaling over $21,000. One case was dismissed, but the second remains active, with a court hearing scheduled for mid-July.
Perhaps most significantly, Beasley is being sued by Hazan Sports Management Group, a boutique New York-based agency that claims he failed to repay a $650,000 advance on future marketing revenue. The firm alleges it made a “substantial investment” in Beasley despite his known financial instability, only to be met with sporadic repayments and vague promises after he terminated their relationship in February. Hazan is now seeking at least $2.25 million in damages for breach of contract.
Compounding the financial turmoil is a federal investigation reportedly involving Beasley and allegations of gambling on NBA games and prop bets during the 2023–24 season. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is said to be examining potential wire fraud and betting violations. While Beasley has not been charged with any crime, the NBA is cooperating with authorities, and the Pistons have distanced themselves from contract negotiations until the matter is resolved.
Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, emphasized that his client is entitled to the presumption of innocence and stated that he has never been involved in Beasley’s financial decisions.
“You hope to get them around the best business people and planners and management people,” Haney told The Detroit News. “Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.”
Beasley has earned nearly $60 million over his NBA career, including $6 million last season with Detroit. Yet his financial portfolio tells a different story; one of mismanagement, mounting legal pressure, and a growing sense of instability. His decision to pledge current and future NBA earnings as collateral for a bridge loan in 2024 only deepened concerns about his long-term solvency.
For Beasley, the coming months will be critical, not just for his basketball future, but for his personal and financial redemption.
