On Friday, Nov. 24th, the NBA began an investigation into Oklahoma City Thunder player Josh Giddey stemming from allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
This comes after a number of damning photos and videos surfaced on social media showed him with a high school junior.
Nevertheless, Giddey appeared to be a full participant in the Thunder’s Friday practice, where he was questioned by reporters. Giddey however, refused to comment on his situation.
“I understand the question obviously, but there’s no further comment right now,” said Giddey. A follow-up inquiry was similarly shot down by Giddey. “I get the question, guys. I completely understand you guys want to know about it. Just for right now, I don’t have anything to say.”
Mark Daigneault, the Thunder head coach, also refused to comment when asked about whether the allegations could pose a distraction to the team. “Personal matter, and I have no comment on it, and that’ll be my comment on anything related.”
Josh Giddey ended up not only dressing but starting in the Thunder’s Nov. 25th match against the Philadelphia 76ers where he played the second-most minutes that he has in any game so far this season.
21-year-old third-year player Josh Giddey was picked sixth overall by the Thunder out of the Australian NBL in the 2021 draft.
Giddey is the most recent instance of a high-profile NBA player alleged to have engaged in criminal misconduct.
In fact, the Thunder were involved in another scandal last month when they received two second-round picks from the Houston Rockets as compensation for acquiring and immediately waiving Kevin Porter Jr.
Porter Jr. was arrested on Sept. 11th for allegedly attacking his girlfriend at the time, Kyrse Gondrezick, a former WNBA player. Though one assault charge was dropped for insufficient evidence, he still faces another in addition to a strangulation charge.
Houston also received Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl from the Thunder. The trade saved the Rockets over $4 million and allowed the Thunder to cut down an over-stuffed roster.
The Thunder have the largest stockpile of future draft picks in the league, which they added to in this trade. Profiting off of Houston desperately trying to cut ties with an alleged domestic abuser is a terrible look for the Thunder already, an image only compounded by their apparent lack of response to the Giddey allegations.
It has been a rough week for the NBA’s PR department with the Charlotte Hornets also making a controversial addition to their roster.
On Nov. 16th, the Hornets announced that Miles Bridges would be eligible to return to their roster, shortly after Hornets’ head coach had said that Bridges would be given a “significant role” in his return.
Bridges has in fact played a significant role since he made his return on Nov. 17th, averaging almost 37 minutes played through four games, a career high.
On July 19th, 2022, Bridges was charged with one felony count of causing harm to a parent of a child and two felony counts of child abuse. Bridges was sentenced to three years of probation and no jail time while the two charges of child abuse were dropped.
Bridges was suspended 30 games by the NBA and signed a contract with the Hornets after the 2023 season.
Despite allegedly breaking his criminal protective order twice—the very thing keeping him out of jail—including throwing pool balls at a car his children were in, Bridges has been allowed to continue playing. His court date for these allegations was set for Nov. 13th, but the hearing was pushed until Feb. 20th, 2024.
Overall, this week has seen plenty of disgraceful conduct both from the Thunder and Hornets, but also from the NBA as a whole.