Josh Giddey had a bad Thanksgiving…

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Or at least a better one than the Thunder’s Josh Giddey.

Over the weekend, allegations surfaced on social media that Josh — a guy who is still too young to get into the old Bricktown 54  — enjoys the company of high school girls, making the Thunder Aussie the target of a vicious online outrage and roasting campaign, and the subject of some of the weirdest and most uncomfortable Oklahoma Thanksgiving table discussions imaginable…

“So grandma. What are your thoughts on Josh Giddey? Is it statutory rape, or should Romeo and Juliet laws apply? Also, please pass the gravy.”

or

“You know, Paul Hogan was 18 years older than his Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski when they married in 1990, so maybe it’s a cultural thing! By the way, great stuffing, Aunt Kathy.”

Seriously, couldn’t the person who did all this wait a week to try and ruin Josh Giddey’s life and reputation? I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving watching football and eating leftovers, not hastily scrolling through Twitter relaying new details about Josh Giddey’s sex life to the rest of the family…

“Good news! Someone just shared a video of the girl dancing in a club saying she dated Josh! Maybe that means she’s 18!”

Like a lot of Thunder fans, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. We’ve all seen the Snapchat videos and screenshots, but the details and context of the situation are still murky. I guess that’s why the NBA is now investigating.

The NBA is looking into allegations that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey had an improper relationship with an underage girl, a league spokesperson said Friday.

The allegations surfaced on social media earlier this week.

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.

The day the news broke, I put on my old-school TLO investigating hat and dug around for more details about the case. I ran the image of the girl making the rounds on social media through some facial recognition software I have access to and learned that either she – or a younger clone with the same last name – plays for an elite high school volleyball club based out of California. 

I’m not a big fan of doxing 16-year-old high school girls for allegedly sleeping with NBA players who just turned 21, so I’m not going to reveal what I found. I’ll just say it matched up with a lot of other details being shared on Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, etc. 

As you know, the Thunder haven’t suspended Giddey.

The team's Ministry of Propaganda even let him give a very awkward “No Comment” to the media following practice on Friday:

First of all, I’m glad Josh “obviously” understood the question, because I had to replay it three times to understand what Mr. Mumbles even asked. 

Second, the fact that Giddey not only spoke to the media, but also played basketball on Saturday afternoon makes me optimistic that the “scandal” isn’t as bad as it looks, and that the accusations – along with the screenshots and videos – making the rounds on social media lack a lot context, clarity, and accuracy.

The Thunder are a conservative organization, and I don’t think they’d trot him out on the court to what sounded to me like piped-in fan noise if this scandal ran super deep. 

Then again, that’s just what I hope / assume. 

After their hot start to the season, I’ve been waiting for something bad to happen and bring the team back down to earth. Granted, I figured it would be in the form of a key injury – not an underage sex scandal involving one of the squad’s promising young players – but the curse bitter Seattle fans put on the team 15 years ago works in mysterious ways.  

Anyway, I guess we’ll continue to follow this developing situation and provide updates as they develop. Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.