OKC Thunder guard Josh Giddey made an incredible hustle play during their Game 4 win against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center. As Pelicans SG Herbert Jones went for a drive near the rim, Giddey stripped the ball from him. As the ball was heading toward the baseline to go out-of-bounds, the 21-year-old guard tip-toed around the baseline and ensured that his feet were not touching the line, as he made a pass to his teammate nearby, securing the possession. Giddey’s play exemplified OKC’s dominant performance against New Orleans, which resulted in the second sweep of this year’s postseason. However, the young guard still ended up getting trolled for his ‘crooked legs’ stance while securing the ball.
Advertisement
Giddey’s teammate Chet Holmgren shared the incredible play on his X handle, albeit with the intention of trolling. He quote-tweeted the video of the play with a picture of pop maestro Michael Jackson to roast Giddey’s stance while saving the ball near the baseline.
While comparing his teammate’s footwork to the famous moonwalker, Holmgren seemed to have invited some not-so-wholesome trolling from NBA fans. Since Michael Jackson was accused of p*dophilia, fans immediately started joking about Giddey and MJ having more things in common than their leg movement.
In December 2023, the OKC guard was accused of having an intimate relationship with an underage girl. Although the officials cleared him of the charge in January 2024, the shadow of the allegations is still haunting the 21-year-old. In that wake, X users pounced upon the chance to mock the Australian athlete.
One of the commenters didn’t miss the chance to establish the parallel. The user wrote, “Good comp, both like the underage type.”
Meanwhile, an X handle took a swipe at Josh Giddey’s last name, attaching it to the allegations. The handle urged Holmgren to “know better” than taking shots at his teammate. The user commented, “cmon chet MJ and Josh Kiddey?? yk better than this“, followed by crying emojis
On the other hand, another fan appreciated the multi-fold aspect of the joke. The X handle wrote, ”theres levels to this joke”
Additionally, former Thunder Center Kendrick Perkins also joined in the fun. He simply inserted four laughing emojis in his comment.
Thus, the 6’8” OKC guard isn’t beating those allegations anytime soon. Ironically, his teammate’s seemingly innocent comparison ended up prompting fans to have some fun at Giddey’s expense. Meanwhile, players from other teams seemed to be mocking the rising star as well.
The Internet refuses to let go of the Giddey situation
Apart from Giddey’s teammate, Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard had also opened a can of worms. While posting a photo of Giddey with the caption “P*dophile”, an Instagram user had titled his post, “Josh Kiddey following in the footsteps of greats like Karl Malone.” In the late 1980s, Malone was accused of impregnating a 13-year-old while he was a 20-year-old sophomore at Louisiana Tech. Payton Pritchard apparently liked the Instagram post and a user posted the screenshot of the same on X.
Therefore, this case indicates that nothing can escape social media trolling. Once a story like Giddey’s is put in public, it is bound to generate traction for a long time. Apart from that, people are going to troll the daylights out of anyone who is merely accused of committing such illegal acts.
