ESPN Insider Implies Kyle Filipowski’s Girlfriend Led to NBA Draft Slide

The NBA had a total of 24 prospects in the green room during Wednesday night's first round of the NBA Draft, and all but two of them heard their name called.

The honor is typically reserved for those who are viewed as potential first-round picks, but it isn't always a guarantee that someone who wasn't invited won't be taken early as we saw with A.J. Johnson. Despite not being invited to sit in the green room, Johnson heard his named called with the No. 23 pick overall by the Milwaukee Bucks after he spent this past season playing in the NBL for the Illawarra Hawks.

On the contrary, just because a player in attendance is expected to go in the opening round, doesn't mean he will. Something we saw with former Duke five-star, Kyle Filipowski who was not taken in the first 30 picks.

Something that ESPN's Jonathan Givony revealed he was "shocked" by after the conclusion of the draft when making an appearance on The Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe.

"I was shocked that Kyle Filipowski...invited to the green room still sitting here right now waiting to hear his name called," ESPN draft insider Jonathan Givony said to Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post. "I got to think the Toronto Raptors need to look hard at him at 31. This guy is seven feet tall, he can dribble, he can pass, he can shoot he's not a bad defender, he's competitive."

What could have gone wrong for the second-team All-American and former ACC Rookie of the Year? Per Givony, there were some off-the-court issues that may have tanked his stock.

"The workouts weren't great people tell me there were question marks about the interviews," Givony said. "They said he was nervous. He didn't make shots at the pro day. What's going on with his girlfriend? This is all nonsense. It's hard to find a seven-footer like Kyle Filipowski who is this skilled. Somebody needs to draft him very early in the second round."

A statement that had Lowe perplexed when it came to the questions about Filipowski's girlfriend, so he asked for Givony to clarify.

"He has an older girlfriend, she's like 25 or 26 and people are like 'Ah, this is weird' and it's like give me a freaking break guys," Givony explained while Lowe interrupted in confusion. "He doesn't talk to his parents..."

The topic caught wind on social media ahead of the second round on Thursday, which led to FIlipowski's mother and brother providing further context about the nature of the relationship:

After Lowe and Givony brushed off the age difference between Filipowski who is 20 and turning 21 in November, Lowe asked if Givony was serious about the whole situation, to which he explained it was a major concern from teams.

"I swear I've heard it 25 times this came up. It was one of the biggest factors that you heard and it's just weird man. It's really really weird. I think people really overthought this one and listen the workouts didn't help. The interviews didn't help, he's a little bit of a nervous guy but there's a lot less pressure in the NBA regular season then there is playing at Duke."

Filipowski didn't have to wait long for his name to be called once the final round kicked off, as the Utah Jazz drafted him with the second pick in the second round (32nd overall).