"OKC has been aware" - Former NBA champion reveals Thunder are brushing off Josh Giddey's scandal after being in loop from start
Right now, OKC Thunder guard Josh Giddey finds himself under investigation from the NBA. According to one former player, it's something the team has known about for quite some time.
The Josh Giddey scandal began last week, when pictures and videos of him and girl went viral on social media. It later came out that the girl he was seeing was allegedly 15 years old. The pictures that surfaced indicated that the two were connected in a romantic relationship.
When discussing the matter, former Golden State Warriors big man Andrew Bogut calimed the team has known for at least a year. That is why they've allowed Giddey to continue playing while the investigation goes on.
"OKC have been aware of this from what I'm told for the last year, they've known about it. They deemed Josh free to play, they didn't see any concerns. The NBA have allowed that [to play for Giddey], which is kind of telling because when these things happen, the NBA really tries to take a couple of games off to even this thing out," Bogut said.
Josh Giddey suited up for the first time since the investigation began over the weekend in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Andrew Bogut claims no legal action has been taken on Josh Giddey yet
According to Andrew Bogut, no legal action has been taken against Josh Giddey yet. The former No. 1 pick stated that the OKC Thunder guard hasn't even been interviewed by police yet.
"On the flip side, I don't think they can do anything, even if there was some smoke to this fire, until there are formal charges filed. Per the CBA, pending an internet Twitter investigation they can't step down a player from playing. He'd have to agree to it. They can't just say, 'You step down.' He's not been formally charged, I don't think he's been interviewed by police about this."
It's been almost a week since the NBA launched its investigation on Giddey, and no new developments have emerged. As of now, the real allegations against him are that from anonymous posts on social media.
Based on their actions, it's clear the Thunder plan on letting Giddey play while this situation unfolds. Typically, teams will have a player away from the rest of the team during a scandal like this. That said, OKC is taking a different approach. Leading up to the matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers, head coach Mark Daigneault said it "wasn't even a decision" to play him.