NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained why the league has allowed Josh Giddey to continue to play amid investigations of being in an alleged inappropriate relationship with an underage girl.
Several videos and photos of Giddey and an alleged minor surfaced and went viral on social media last month. Following this, the 21-year-old elected to not give an official comment on the allegations in his only public appearance since then on Nov. 24.
“I understand the question obviously, but there’s no further comment right now,” Giddey said. He also later added when asked about it again: “I get the question guys, I completely understand you guys want to know about it but just for right now, I don’t have anything to say.”
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault also went the ‘no comment’ route and said Giddey will continue to play until told otherwise by the NBA.
Since then, the NBA and Newport Beach PD both opened up investigations into the allegation. The league announced theirs on Nov. 24 and Newport Beach PD announced theirs on Nov. 29.
On Friday, Silver told ESPN’s Malika Andrews the league usually never suspends players based on accusations alone and that they usually wait until the police investigation announces its results before making a decision.
“I think if you look back, I can’t think of many circumstances where we’ve suspended a player based on an allegation alone,” Silver said. “So we have an allegation and then you have a police investigation and a parallel league investigation.
“I’ll also add that where there’s a criminal investigation, we take a backseat. You have an allegation, you have an ongoing criminal investigation — that impacts how the players and Players Association can work with us because of course the player needs to protect his rights.
“I’m not going to say never ever, but I think this is the path we’ve consistently followed in the past… That’s where things currently stand.”
"I can't think of many circumstances where we've suspended a player based on an allegation alone… where there is a criminal investigation, we take a backseat… That's where things currently stand."
Adam Silver on the Josh Giddey situation.pic.twitter.com/iGFpxmP5zs
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 8, 2023
Giddey is in his third season with the Oklahoma City Thunder after being drafted with the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA draft. In 21 games, he’s averaged 11.7 points on 41.6% shooting, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
