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The Oklahoma City Thunder have exercised their third-year NBA contract option on Australian star Josh Giddey.
The 20-year-old Giddey was named on the NBA all-rookie second team last season despite missing the last 22 games with a hip injury.
After being selected with pick No.6 in the 2021 draft, he averaged 12.5 points with 7.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 54 games last season.
He became the youngest player to record a triple-double at 19 years, 84 days when he accomplished the feat on January 2 against the Dallas Mavericks.
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Giddey will almost certainly be offered a lucrative extension by the Thunder, who view him as the ideal playmaker to build their team around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and another lottery pick, Chet Holmgren, who has unfortunately been ruled out of his rookie season due to a foot injury.
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Thunder have also exercised a third-year option on fellow guard Tre Mann and a fourth-year option on forward Aleksej Pokusevski.
Mann, 21, scored 10.4 points with 2.9 rebounds in 60 games last season, also his first in the NBA.
Pokusevski, 20, in his second season with the Thunder last season, scored 7.6 points with 5.2 rebounds in 61 games.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo is undergoing treatment in Atlanta for a brain tumour, the NBA has announced.
Mutombo has been one of the NBA’s global ambassadors for years, and recently appeared at Hall of Fame enshrinement events in Springfield, Massachusetts and a pair of preseason games in Saitama, Japan.
He also appeared with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at an event in the Congo, Mutombo’s native country, in August.
“He is receiving the best care possible from a collaborative team of specialists in Atlanta and is in great spirits as he begins treatment,” Mutombo’s family said in a statement distributed by the NBA. “Dikembe and his family ask for privacy during this time so they can focus on his care. They are grateful for your prayers and good wishes.”
The 56-year-old Mutombo spent 18 seasons in the NBA, playing for Denver, Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, New York and the then-New Jersey Nets. The 7-foot-2 centre is an eight-time All-Star, four-time defensive player of the year, three-time All-NBA selection and went into the Hall of Fame in 2015 after averaging 9.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for his career.
Mutombo last played during the 2008-09 season and has worked extensively for charitable and humanitarian causes since. Blinken lauded him when the pair were together in the Congo, telling Mutombo “you’ve done so much to bring the world together.”
Mutombo speaks nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, concentrating on improving health, education and quality of life for the people in the Congo.
His foundation led the building of a 170-bed hospital in Kinshasa, the capital city, and that facility has treated nearly a half-million people regardless of their ability to pay for care.
He also has served on the boards of many organisations, including Special Olympics International, the CDC Foundation and the National Board for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
© AAP
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