NBA suspends Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley for 12 games

Timberwolves guard Malik Beasley has been suspended 12 games stemming from a guilty plea he entered for threats of violence after he pointed a rifle at a pregnant woman, her husband and their teenage daughter in an SUV outside his Plymouth home last fall.

Beasley was ordered to serve 120 days in a workhouse, or home monitoring, and will serve that sentence after the season.

But now he will miss a dozen games over the next month, starting with Saturday's against Washington. Assuming there are no COVID-related postponements, Beasley will be eligible to return March 27. He will be allowed to practice with the team, an NBA source confirmed.

"As an organization, we fully support today's decision by the NBA," Wolves President Gersson Rosas said in a team release. "As we work together with Malik to advance his development as a player and a person, we look forward to seeing his growth."

Beasley is in the midst of his best season on the court and is averaging 20.5 points while shooting 41% from three-point range. Even after the September incident, the Wolves re-signed Beasley, who was a restricted free agent, to a four-year contract worth up to $60 million. The fourth year is a team option.

As part of his sentence, a felony drug count against Beasley was dropped, but he will also serve three years' probation, which requires no alcohol or illegal drug use. If Beasley completes the probation successfully, the felony count will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

A source told the Star Tribune that the NBA wanted to review the sentencing documents before suspending Beasley, and they levied a harsh suspension against him.

During the sentencing hearing on Feb. 9, Beasley said he "made some very bad mistakes. I regret it to this day. … I humbly apologize for my actions."

Beasley said numerous vehicles came up to his house as part of a Parade of Homes tour that had listed his property in guidebooks distributed weeks before the incident.

"I was worried and in fear for the safety of us and … all this caused me to be frustrated in this situation," Beasley said during the hearing.

The family did not join in the proceeding but had a victim impact statement read on their behalf that noted the woman was nearly 37 weeks pregnant, and what Beasley did created a "danger to her and her unborn child. She spent the rest of her pregnancy on bed rest" and gave birth in late October.

Beasley declined to answer questions about the sentencing in the days after accepting it. But he did thank Rosas and former coach Ryan Saunders for sticking by him through the process.

"Gersson and [Saunders] and the team have done a great job of being by my side and making sure that my head is straight and that I become better as a person," Beasley said Feb. 10. "I hold myself accountable, as well. I'm just thankful to be playing; I'm thankful to be here with the team."

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.