Adam Silver has reiterated the NBA’s stance on Josh Giddey amid an ongoing investigation into allegations linking him to an underage female.
Speaking on NBA Today, Silver addressed the league’s approach to such investigations.
“I can’t think of many circumstances where we’ve suspended a player based on an allegation alone,” he said. “Where there is a criminal investigation, we take a backseat. I think this is the path we’ve consistently followed. There’s an ongoing criminal investigation — Newport Police opened up that investigation, notified us — we then take a back seat. And that’s where things currently stand. That’s where things currently stand.
“When there’s a parallel criminal investigation, we do take a backseat to the criminal, criminal investigation. Part of it is just even for a defense lawyer who’s representing a player, understandably protecting that player’s rights and protecting that player in a, in a criminal context, that’s their job to do that, that they don’t want to waive certain rights by having the player in the first instance, talk to the league. So we generally, we will work with law enforcement to the extent they’ll share with us the information they have. We can learn from that. We gather whatever information is available to us that, in working, you know, alongside with a police department, in this case, or a DA, as long as they say we’re not interfering with their investigation, we do what we can at the same time. But generally, we fall in behind any criminal investigation and then go from there.”
The Newport Beach Police Department initiated its investigation a few days after the NBA began its own investigation. The department’s statement acknowledged the online circulation of allegations involving Giddey and a minor. It confirmed active efforts to gather information and pursue all leads to establish the truth.
Throughout these investigations, Giddey has continued playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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