Many were surprised when former Duke star Kyle Filipowski fell out of the first round of this year's NBA Draft. But just as he was selected with the No. 32 pick by the Utah Jazz on Thursday, his personal life began to take center stage turning most people on social media away from any basketball discussions but potentially explaining why he might have fallen in the draft.
After Wednesday's first round was complete, there was a social media post circulating that showed Filipowski being consoled by his girlfriend backstage. That is not unusual but what was a bit strange is that Filipowski's family was not at the NBA Draft with the couple.
On Thursday, we began to learn why and the story took off like wildfire. The first sign that something unusual was at play came from ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony who said on The Low Podcast that Filipowski might have fallen out of the first round because of concerns over his relationship with Caitlin Hutchinson.
"NBA teams are talking about the fact that they had questions about his girlfriend being so much older than him," Givony said, "why was he estranged from his family because of this whole situation? It’s a very, very odd situation. I personally don’t understand why it would cause him to drop like this into the second round."
Eventually, it came to light that Hutchinson is around eight years older than Filipowski. While that's not all that unusual in the dating world, rumors began to circulate online that the two were in a relationship when the Duke star was still in high school. Social media even dredged up photos of the two as they attended Filipowski's senior prom.
Then, the story took an unexpected turn when the Filipowski family weighed in. As you might expect, their comments took social media by storm.
On X, people claiming to be Filipowski's brother and mom levied some harsh accusations against Hutchinson. They included claims that Hutchinson began a relationship with Filipowski while he was still in high school and that she "groomed" him to become part of the Mormon faith.
What's more, these claims suggest that Hutchinson's plan all along was to become engaged to Filipowski around the time that he was set to begin his NBA career. According to the posts of the supposed family members, this relationship has caused Filipowski to become estranged from his family.
Thus far, no comment on the situation has come from Hutchinson or Filipowski. What's more, the identity of the so-called familiy members has yet to be officially confirmed.
However, this story took over social media Thursday afternoon and gave NBA and college basketball fans something to gossip over. Unfortunately, it also overshadowed Filipowski's selection by the Jazz.
We may never know the whole truth about this situation, especially if Filipowski and Hutchinson remain silent on the issue. However, it is a bizarre turn of events that could have cost Filipowski millions of dollars as he became the NBA Draft's biggest faller.