Australian basketball star Josh Giddey is being investigated by the NBA following an allegation of the Boomers ace having an improper relationship with an under-aged girl.
In a since-deleted post, an anonymous social media user said a girl who is seen with Giddey in videos and photographs was a high school junior at the time. The social media account has since been deactivated. Giddey just turned 21 in October.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard was on Friday peppered with questions about the social media storm. Giddey has turned comments off on his Instagram account, which has 514,000 followers.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass confirmed the league is “looking into” the serious claims that went viral about Giddey on Thursday and continue to trend globally across various platforms.
Giddey, 21, fronted the media at OKC’s practice session but declined to go into any detail about the situation. “Yeah, I mean, I understand the question, obviously,” he said. “But there’s no further comment right now.”
Drafted to the Thunder with pick six in the 2021 draft, Giddey’s promising career could be seriously impacted by the allegations. In January 2022, he became the youngest NBA player to record a triple-double, at 19 years and 84 days, and the first player since Hall of Fame member Oscar Robertson in 1961 to record three consecutive triple-doubles as a rookie.
Giddey is averaging 12.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists for a young Oklahoma City team that is off to a flying 11-4 start. The 2021 NBL rookie of the year is a key part in the Boomers’ hopes of improving on their historic bronze medal in Tokyo at next year’s Paris Olympics.
