Watch: Josh Giddey gets huge cheer from OKC Thunder crowd during introduction amid his alleged recent scandal
Despite the allegations faced by Josh Giddey, there appears to be little to no strain in the relationship between fans of the OKC Thunder and the Australian player. Giddey played for the first time on Saturday since the allegations surfaced.
Giddey started for the Thunder in their 127-123 loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, playing north of 25 minutes. He had 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, seven assists and seven rebounds, and had a plus-minus of -13.
As he was introduced as a starter, the OKC crowd erupted with cheers.
Currently, the league is conducting an investigation into accusations that the 21-year-old guard engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl. The allegations surfaced on social media through a now-deleted post, which implied that the girl appearing in videos and photographs with Giddey was a high school junior.
Giddey declined to comment about the issue during practice on Friday:
"I understand the question, guys, and I completely understand you guys want to know about it. But just for right now, I don’t have anything to say."
In the pre-game media conference, OKC coach Mark Daigneault said playing Giddey was "not even a decision." He said the matter has escalated to being a league concern rather than solely a team issue:
"No change in status from a basketball standpoint, and I still have no comment on anything else," Daigneault said.
"It's obviously a league matter at this point. The ball is in their court on that one."
Looking at Josh Giddey’s contract with the Thunder
Josh Giddey is in the third year of his four-year, $41 million rookie contract with the Thunder. For the current season, he is earning $6,587,040.
He is the sixth highest-paid player on the Thunder, behind star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Davis Bertans, Luguentz Dort, Chet Holmgren and Vasilije Micic.
Last month, the Thunder made decisions to exercise the fourth-year contract options on Josh Giddey and Tre Mann, along with the third-year contract options on Ousmane Dieng, Holmgren and Jalen Williams.
Giddey, who will make $8,352,367 next season, will be extension-eligible next summer.
In 15 games before the allegations came to light, Giddey averaged 12.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for the Thunder.