00:00Doug Carr, Scott Anderson, 97.1 Open Lines, 248-539-9797.
00:04We'll talk some NFL trade stuff coming up.
00:07Also another edition, are you going to eat that?
00:11Look, something happens in sports that we deal with a lot,
00:16and that is speculation about why something is or is not happening.
00:21When there's no logical answer or public answer
00:27as to why something has or hasn't happened,
00:31and this kind of has happened over the last two years.
00:35We get the call all the time.
00:37Why don't the Pistons go get Malik Beasley back?
00:43And there was a report or a comment from his agent
00:47that he's not guilty of any of these charges,
00:49and the investigation has been dropped, and you remember all that?
00:53And that led to a bunch of calls that,
00:54hey, go get Beasley, go get Beasley.
00:58And the Pistons weren't.
01:00Neither was anybody else.
01:03And then yesterday it came out that he's agreed to plead guilty
01:06in his federal sports betting case.
01:10He initially pleaded not guilty to four federal charges,
01:14conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in sporting contests,
01:19honest services, wire fraud conspiracy,
01:22and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
01:26So I guess now we know the reason why.
01:31But it happens quite a bit where you're like,
01:33hmm, this seems like it would be something that somebody would do.
01:38And oftentimes we'll have to bring up, well, there's got to be a reason.
01:41Right.
01:42And I guess now we know the reason why.
01:46Apparently it was all about him.
01:49There was a report saying it was about him manipulating his player props.
01:57So what do you make of this story?
01:59What do you think?
02:00And, Kang, I want your opinion too.
02:03I mean, it's sad, but it's finally an admission, I guess,
02:07to get it behind him and see if he can still find a place in the league
02:14at some point.
02:16Apparently there was enough evidence that it compels him to come forward
02:20and admit to what he did.
02:22It's, we'll see where it goes from here, how involved it was.
02:30It's, I think it's sad because it ruins his career.
02:35And it also puts a stain on the NBA.
02:39People already think that sports are fixed in one way or another,
02:43and then this is confirmation of that.
02:45So that's the real sad part of this.
02:49Kang, what do you make of this story?
02:52He was indicted over a year ago with these allegations.
02:56I don't know why people, and I came off as a huge jerk.
02:59Remember, someone texted me during the show.
03:01Yeah, you went nuts.
03:02Please stop.
03:03Stop calling and texting us about Malik Beasley.
03:05It is not going to happen.
03:07No team in the league has signed him.
03:09He signed with Bad Bunny's team in Puerto Rico.
03:13He, and where it goes from here, Gator, is his career in the NBA is over.
03:16That's where that goes.
03:17I don't know what he's going to do the rest of his life as far as income and career,
03:21but it ain't going to be in professional basketball, in the NBA at least.
03:25This was, it's unfortunate it came to this, you know?
03:29And people are like, well, he's posting stuff online.
03:31He's wearing Pistons shirts.
03:33I do too.
03:34I don't think the Pistons would assign me to a 10-day contract.
03:37So yeah, he seems like a nice guy, whatever.
03:39He did some bad things.
03:40Now he's pleading guilty to it.
03:41And the NBA does have a gambling problem.
03:43So there is no way he enters, steps, you know, foot onto an NBA court as a player ever again.
03:48That's done with.
03:50And I found it crazy too at the time when, you know, Pistons needed three-point shooting.
03:54They were trying to get some extra help for the playoffs.
03:56I get that.
03:56The last time he played for the Pistons was probably the worst thing he did was he was
04:01off on the playoffs and he literally ended the last possession against the Knicks with
04:04a turnover.
04:05Like an easy turnover where he could have shot the ball off.
04:08Now people are raising red flags about that because that seemed like it was questionable.
04:13And you go back and look at the, if you read all the court findings and you go back
04:18and find the dates that they're alleging that he may have manipulated player props, it looks
04:23hilarious because he looks like he's manipulating player props.
04:26It does.
04:27It's unbelievable.
04:28And so, yeah, this was not going to happen.
04:30And now it's definitely not going to happen.
04:32And I think at least from my point of view, selfishly, we can move on.
04:36But like I said, in his life, that's unfortunate that he came, it came to this for him and he
04:40needed money that bad and he was about to actually get paid.
04:43He was going to get paid finally.
04:45And all this came up again.
04:47In fact, honestly, it's the most hostile you've ever been towards the audience.
04:51Because I couldn't, I could not, it was every day.
04:54And you guys didn't see it, you know, all the texts and the calls we would get.
04:56But like, if something happens, we will let you know, right?
05:00Like, hey, they're interested in signing.
05:02But Trajan Langdon went up there and said, I haven't even spoken to him.
05:05Like he literally said, that's from Trajan Langdon's mouth, not mine.
05:09And people still called to go, but what do you think about?
05:11And I'm like, all right, I can't.
05:15Beasley, federal prosecutors say, fell into gambling debt and received a loan from Ed Davis,
05:22former NBA player, and then got into a gambling scheme as a way to pay it off.
05:27There were two of six men indicted.
05:29One, William Brown has already pleaded guilty, while two more will also do so.
05:34Their lawyers previously confirmed.
05:36Beasley was indicted for allegedly manipulating his play in four games with the Milwaukee Bucks
05:41during the 23-24 season.
05:43Games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 26th and Charlotte Hornets on February 27th
05:51against the LA Clippers on March 10th and against the Brooklyn Nets on March 21st.
05:55He played nine seasons in the NBA and made roughly $60 million in salary.
05:59He nearly landed a $42 million contract following a season where he was sixth man of the year.
06:07So, look, man, people make huge, huge, huge mistakes, and I do have sympathy for people
06:15who blow opportunities.
06:17I feel bad because I just can't imagine what it's like to be in those shoes going,
06:23Oh, my God, what did I do?
06:25If he got into gambling debt and needed to get out of the debt, and he's made nearly $60 million,
06:33how much was he gambling and how much debt did he get into?
06:39That is a ton of money that you could be set and generations could be set, and it's so dumb.
06:47It's so dumb.
06:50Yeah, it is, and these are sad tales when you hear players and athletes that have made tens of millions
06:56of dollars
06:57and they end up having nothing because of bad investments being taken advantage of
07:01or gambling addictions or whatever the case is, and this is another one of those.
07:05And it's sad because you would think, how on earth, okay, if you made $60 million in your career,
07:12means you've taken home at least $30 million of that after taxes, how have you squandered $30 million?
07:18Dude.
07:18It happens.
07:19Yep.
07:19And it's, you know, without having people that you can actually trust helping to manage the money,
07:27it can go, and sadly it did.
07:29And then he resorts to that, which was really, really, really unfortunate.
07:35We do have an update on the Dylan Larkin situation.
07:38Yeah.
07:38Well, Max Bultman has tweeted out that Larkin missing today's practice was a maintenance day.
07:47I still find it curious.
07:50Hasn't he had missed a bunch of stuff already?
07:52No, I mean, he missed training camp because of the upper body injury he's played.
07:56He literally played in the last game, but they don't play till tomorrow night against Chicago.
08:00They're home.
08:02Maintenance day.
08:03Take it for whatever it is.
08:05He also said Albert Johansson is out tomorrow.
08:08No timetable yet.
08:09He was injured in Calgary.
08:11Tom McCullin said that Marco Casper, Mason Appleton, probably two weeks away for both of those players before they come
08:17back.
08:17Let's get back to your phone calls.
08:19We go to Bernard in Detroit.
08:20Hello, Bernard.
08:22Hey, good morning.
08:23Good afternoon.
08:24How you guys doing?
08:24All right.
08:26Hey, listen, on that Malik Beasley issue, I know he pleaded guilty, and he probably would.
08:31I don't know.
08:32I can't really say.
08:33But every time a person pleads guilty, they don't mean they're guilty.
08:39Sometimes your attorney tells you you need to plead guilty because the prosecutor will let you get this and that
08:44or sometime out of jail or something.
08:46So it don't actually mean he's guilty of all the charges because he pleaded guilty.
08:51And people look at that like, yeah, I know he did it because he pleaded guilty.
08:54And sometimes it's just on his attorney's advice that he pleaded guilty.
08:58Well, Bernard, you're correct.
08:59You're correct about that.
09:01However, if you're pleading guilty to this, you are basically saying, I will never play in the NBA ever again.
09:08And I'm not sure you would plead guilty if you weren't guilty.
09:13You plead guilty to lesser charges in plea deals.
09:16That's what the plea deal is, right?
09:19That's right, yeah.
09:20Okay, but you're still pleading guilty to something.
09:22And you're guilty of something.
09:24You may not be guilty.
09:25I suppose.
09:26If he pleads guilty to something that keeps him from getting banned from the NBA, it might make sense.
09:31Well, I don't know if he'll keep him.
09:33He may not ever play in the NBA again.
09:35It may be part of this thing.
09:36But every time you plead guilty, sometimes the lawyer says, you better plead guilty.
09:41You might get 40 years down.
09:43Yeah, Bernard, I guess you're accurate in one thing.
09:47And I'm not always familiar with everything that goes on in the legal system.
09:53I'm guilty of that.
09:56If he pleads this down to something that allows him to hang on to eligibility to play, then it could
10:04be, okay, I'll plead guilty to that.
10:08But I guess we have to wait and see.
10:10That seems rather unlikely to me.
10:13I don't know that you would plead guilty if you simply didn't do it.
10:18You know, you're right.
10:20It doesn't always mean that you are 100% guilty of what you're accused of.
10:24But I guess we should wait and see how this thing plays out.
10:30248-539-9797.
