Retired NBA center Andrew Bogut has seen something similar before.
When discussing the explosive fallout from Zion Williamson and his apparent girlfriend’s pregnancy reveal last week, when the Pelicans forward was subsequently called out by multiple women who alleged to have intimate relations with the All-Star, Bogut remarked on Monday’s episode of his “Rogue Bogues” podcast how this ordeal “is not a one off” in the league.
“If you think this is a one-off in the NBA, you’re very wrong, you’re very wrong. This is a common occurrence on many teams I’ve been, this is a common occurrence amongst the league, where there are different relationships and that’s how they have their relationships, some know about it, some don’t, but this not something you need to be shocked about because it happens a lot,” the 38-year-old Bogut said.
The 2015 NBA champion then alleged he knows “for a fact” that there are women “on players’ payrolls to be a side girl.”
“Unfortunately, the stupidity of that is that tap cannot get turned off… Once you’re paying a girl or a man — this could go either way these days — to be your side piece, the moment you stop paying that side piece your wife’s going to find out about it. That’s just the way the world works,” he said.
“So the moment you’re like, ‘Holy s–t, I’ve retired, I can’t keep paying you 20K a month to be my side piece cause I can’t afford it anymore,’ that’s going to go public. That’s just the reality of the world. I saw it mainly in silence in the NBA, some people that I played with and against that were paying people off and what not and this and that, it’s normal, bro, I have to say it’s normal.”
Bogut, who began his NBA career with the Bucks in 2005 and played for the Mavericks, Cavaliers, Lakers and Warriors before retiring in 2020, later elaborated on accountability in the current state of affairs.
“I’m not always saying it’s not the players fault cause it takes two to tango, but the fact the media loves this stuff, I hate it. I think it’s disgusting to do this, but if you’re Zion you got to be smarter than that, man. You just can’t be doing that stuff,” he said.
The drama involving Williamson, 22, escalated last week when a woman named Ahkeema revealed she was expecting a baby girl with the former first-overall pick.
Shortly after the pregnancy news, former adult film star Moriah Mills alleged in a Twitter rant that she and the former Duke product had recent sexual relations.
“Better pray I’m not pregnant too because I’m definitely late @Zionwilliamson,” Mills tweeted.
“I was with you last week in New Orleans and you couldn’t tell me you had a random thot pregnant after all I’ve done for you @Zionwilliamson.”
A third woman since since called out Williamson on social media, with digital creator Yami Taylor blasting the two-time NBA All-Star as a “sex addict.”
Williamson, who has been sidelined since January after suffering a hamstring strain, is now the subject of trade rumors, which Mills has likened to “fake” news.
“Fake trade news to deflect enjoy fatherhood @Zionwilliamson you betrayed me I’m done,” Mills tweeted Wednesday.
Williamson signed a five-year, $193 million rookie max contract with escalators up to $231 million in July 2022.
