OT: Thon Maker is actually 23 years old

[nbafan341]

john hammond is an idiot, he gets way too much credit for studf that his scouts do anyways. hes obsessed with running tall and wingspan, why else you have 6"11 giannis running the point.

[nbafan341]

why hasnt thons agent help dispute the runors yet? this kid is a distraction. was a thon supporter but he looks so sketchy.

[Slam Dunk!]

The bigger question outside of basketball is what kind of person does this make Thon Maker. This shows to me he is not trustworthy and above all else most likely a pedophile. If he's 23-24 now and attended 5 years of high school that would put him in grade 9 when he was 18-19. The girls in his class would only have been 14 and the legal age of consent in Canada is 16 I believe.

If this scandal continues to go viral and some ex classmates that were duped by Thon read about this he may be in some really serious legal trouble and face stat rape charges.

Of course if he's innocent and actually 19, which seems unlikely than I and many others owe him an apology. He'd also have a good case to sue the guy that has been slandering him with the yearbook photos.

I hope the law makers (pun intended) investigate further into this along with the Nba. I'm tired of guys lying about their age to trick nba teams, it's very unethical. If he is guilty I'd like to see an example made out of him. I don't care how hard an up bringing he's had. Lying about your age to steal millions and rape young girls is NOT ok.

Given the lengths his peoples went to keep him under the radar, I'm guessing he either had blue balls throughout his high school years or he made routine visits to the local stripclub.

[The_Hater]

Wouldn't be surprised if there was a clerical error and his birth year is actually 1992.

A clerical error at what stage though? When Australia issued him his VISA, did it say 1997 like this article says? If so, any school he went to is going to get that documentation and put him in an age appropriate class. They aren't going to toss a kid that the government says is 5 years old and who doesn't speak english, right into grade 5. If the paper made the error when writing the article this year and his VISA said 1992, that is something the US and Canadian governments would have known immediately and he would not have been 'repeating' highschool here, and the NBA and Bucks would have found out immediately and he wouldn't have been in the draft as a 19 year old.

The two pages of the year book don't even really make sense. On the left hand side you have kids named A, B and C. Then suddenly on the right page your into kids with named M. Not to mention the 2 different alignments. It could be a page that was cut out and pasted in that spot. You look up that school and you'll find out it's a school that takes students from grade 7 to grade 12. I'm not saying that it's all false, but that very well could be his school photo page from grade 7, cut out and pasted beside the grade 12 graduates.

Everything you just said is definitely possible. So with hundreds of these yearbooks floating around Australia just go find a legit one that proves that a Thon was actually in grade 7 when that photo was taken. Or interview some of his grade 7 classmates and get them on tape verifying that they went to school with Von and verify their ages.. Had his agent done this before the draft it could have easily put all these rumours to bed.

Instead we just hear rumour after rumour. No yearbooks. No interviews. No irrefutable proof of any kind.

If something like that surfaces now that proves that Maker is really 19, I will eat crow. I'm very confident that proof doesn't exist.

[Local_NG_Idiot]

So everyone is convinced this is true, and therefore, that would make him 18 in this video here from 2011 at the John Lucas camp.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4NWmQ0PWJY[/youtube]

As far as what I believe, I'm reserving judgement as the stories and timelines coming out just don't add up either way.

[The_Hater]

So everyone is convinced this is true, and therefore, that would make him 18 in this video here from 2011 at the John Lucas camp.


As far as what I believe, I'm reserving judgement as the stories and timelines coming out just don't add up either way.

He could definitely be 18 in that video. Lots of rail thin 18 year olds out there.

[Local_NG_Idiot]

So everyone is convinced this is true, and therefore, that would make him 18 in this video here from 2011 at the John Lucas camp.


As far as what I believe, I'm reserving judgement as the stories and timelines coming out just don't add up either way.

He could definitely be 18 in that video. Lots of rail thin 18 year olds out there.

Sure lots of NBA talent came in rail thin 18 years old. Any that can't fit a slice of bread under their feet when they jump? Any that look like they are in quick sand when they run? Any at all that look like he does in that video ever?

Can you name even 1 NBA prospect that came into the league as a 23-24 athletic freak and at 18 would struggle to pass a grade 10 fit test? It could be possible, like I said, I'm not ruling it out, but it would be extremely precedent setting if that is how Thon developed from 13-24 (physically speaking).

[a_child]

I cant believe this. Its not like Australia is some third world country where after enrolling and finishing highschool Thon can then go and change his birthdate and come to the states/Canada.

[Fairview4Life]

Also, the school the yearbook is from has an extensive ESL program that includes kids from all sorts of age groups. So he could have, for example, graduated from an ESL program in 2010 from that school and not have been an 18 year old. That is what his guardian told Givony today.

So according to this theory a 5 year old kid arriving in Australia would be in an ESL program 8 years after? He would have been in an English speaking country almost twice as long as he was alive before arriving (as a 5 year old child). And you don't think that's a credibility stretch?

According to the theory that he is 23, the Australian government put a Sudanese refugee they thought was 5 years old (his Aussie Visa says he was born in 1997) who needed ESL classes directly into grade 5. That's what would have had to have happened for this yearbook stuff to work. He wasn't on the Doogie Howser track.

[Double Helix]

This was Manut Bol in the NBA:



Body type is irrelevant in determining age.

[basketball royalty]

You guys are funny. IMO good on him whether he is legit 19 or he pulled off the long con. He could be a bust if he's 19 just as easily as if he's 23 but he got himself drafted in the lottery and if he isn't robbed by his confidant will be able to take care of himself and his family.

It's on the Bucks or whomever drafts these guys to cross the Ts and dot their I's.

[The_Hater]

Hey DH, where would Maker have been rated in the draft if it was absolutely certain he was 19 years old? I'm guessing he was a 2nd rounder based on that uncertainty?

[The_Hater]

You guys are funny. IMO good on him whether he is legit 19 or he pulled off the long con. He could be a bust if he's 19 just as easily as if he's 23 but he got himself drafted in the lottery and if he isn't robbed by his confidant will be able to take care of himself and his family.

It's on the Bucks or whomever drafts these guys to cross the Ts and dot their I's.

Let's not pretend that there the same chance he's a Bust at 19 than 23 or 24. There's this thing called upside and those 4-5 years in between those 2 ages are pretty important. Why else do you think he went through all this trouble to Con the scouts im the first place? Why did YI Jianlian go through the same con before he busted out od the NBA in 4 short years?

[JYD]

The yearbook stuff, which if undoctored, and if the non-grad class picture is indeed him, is pretty much proof on its own. There are several classmates in the 'grade 9' picture who have clearly aged from that one to the grad one. And you look at the non-grad one on as a whole and you'll see the age difference between the kids there and the grad one.

There's also an ESPN interview asking him about it after the draft, even without listening to his reply he has a lot of facial expressions that line up with people when they're not being honest. If you've run into enough bad fibbers it's easy to spot. 2:20.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukCNKUhDOP4&feature=youtu.be&t=2m22s[/youtube]

[S ID]

The bigger question outside of basketball is what kind of person does this make Thon Maker. This shows to me he is not trustworthy and above all else most likely a pedophile. If he's 23-24 now and attended 5 years of high school that would put him in grade 9 when he was 18-19. The girls in his class would only have been 14 and the legal age of consent in Canada is 16 I believe.

If this scandal continues to go viral and some ex classmates that were duped by Thon read about this he may be in some really serious legal trouble and face stat rape charges.

Of course if he's innocent and actually 19, which seems unlikely than I and many others owe him an apology. He'd also have a good case to sue the guy that has been slandering him with the yearbook photos.

I hope the law makers (pun intended) investigate further into this along with the Nba. I'm tired of guys lying about their age to trick nba teams, it's very unethical. If he is guilty I'd like to see an example made out of him. I don't care how hard an up bringing he's had. Lying about your age to steal millions and rape young girls is NOT ok.

The Tackling Violent Crime Act raises the legal age of sexual consent in Canada to 16 from 14, the first time it has been raised since 1892. But the law includes a "close-in-age exception," meaning 14- and 15-year-olds can have sex with someone who is less than five years older.

[basketball royalty]

You guys are funny. IMO good on him whether he is legit 19 or he pulled off the long con. He could be a bust if he's 19 just as easily as if he's 23 but he got himself drafted in the lottery and if he isn't robbed by his confidant will be able to take care of himself and his family.

It's on the Bucks or whomever drafts these guys to cross the Ts and dot their I's.

Let's not pretend that there the same chance he's a Bust at 19 than 23 or 24. There's this thing called upside and those 4-5 years in between those 2 ages are pretty important. Why else do you think he went through all this trouble to Con the scouts im the first place? Why did YI Jianlian go through the same con before he busted out od the NBA in 4 short years?

My point is there are 19 year olds that bust and there are 23 year olds that bust and all the ages in between as well.

If it is true and he is older than he was able to get himself paid by faking his age for what, like four years? More? That is commitment and it paid off. Good for him.

On the other side. Maybe he ends up being a good player. Or a great one. Bucks won't care then if he lied or not and likely faking his age gave him a shot he would have not had. On that point I am pretty sure Mutombo was older than he stated as well, I may be wrong, but he had a great and long NBA career regardless.

[nbafan341]

He's probably not 19 with how sketchy his history has been. The great lengths he's done to avoid competition seems too much of a wild card to think he's honest, especiall with the " evidence" being presented to us. If thon rly wanted to clear his name, he'd have his agent provide that proof. Just as NBA players always say during free agency, " thats not my job, that's my agent's job to worry about where Ill be playing next season, IM not thinkign about that stuff" but if thon himself has to answer and defend on his behalf, clearly there's more than what the story tells. He's probably not 19. There is the possibility to cut and paste year book pages and show us how old he is.

In regards to ppl sayimg hsi body language shift, there's confirmation bias, not speaking on the reality if he's lying or not, even tho it sounds like he's not truthful.

[The_Hater]

You guys are funny. IMO good on him whether he is legit 19 or he pulled off the long con. He could be a bust if he's 19 just as easily as if he's 23 but he got himself drafted in the lottery and if he isn't robbed by his confidant will be able to take care of himself and his family.

It's on the Bucks or whomever drafts these guys to cross the Ts and dot their I's.

Let's not pretend that there the same chance he's a Bust at 19 than 23 or 24. There's this thing called upside and those 4-5 years in between those 2 ages are pretty important. Why else do you think he went through all this trouble to Con the scouts im the first place? Why did YI Jianlian go through the same con before he busted out od the NBA in 4 short years?

My point is there are 19 year olds that bust and there are 23 year olds that bust and all the ages in between as well.

If it is true and he is older than he was able to get himself paid by faking his age for what, like four years? More? That is commitment and it paid off. Good for him.

On the other side. Maybe he ends up being a good player. Or a great one. Bucks won't care then if he lied or not and likely faking his age gave him a shot he would have not had. On that point I am pretty sure Mutombo was older than he stated as well, I may be wrong, but he had a great and long NBA career regardless.

A fully get why there's so many basketball and baseball players from 3rd world countries pulling this con. It's a lottery ticket. But don't for a second think the Bucks won't care if he lied. They'll be losing those prime development years and he'll be much closer to a finished product. Therfore his chances of being a bust rise exponentially and his ceiling is much lower. There's nothing good about it. Plus it was the Bucks who already wasted #6 on the aforementioned Jianlian. They are not going to be happy about being conned twice.

[Double Helix]

If true it would also help explain why he never suited up for Australia once from the time the plot began.

[basketball royalty]

Let's not pretend that there the same chance he's a Bust at 19 than 23 or 24. There's this thing called upside and those 4-5 years in between those 2 ages are pretty important. Why else do you think he went through all this trouble to Con the scouts im the first place? Why did YI Jianlian go through the same con before he busted out od the NBA in 4 short years?

My point is there are 19 year olds that bust and there are 23 year olds that bust and all the ages in between as well.

If it is true and he is older than he was able to get himself paid by faking his age for what, like four years? More? That is commitment and it paid off. Good for him.

On the other side. Maybe he ends up being a good player. Or a great one. Bucks won't care then if he lied or not and likely faking his age gave him a shot he would have not had. On that point I am pretty sure Mutombo was older than he stated as well, I may be wrong, but he had a great and long NBA career regardless.

A fully get why there's so many basketball and baseball players from 3rd world countries pulling this con. It's a lottery ticket. But don't for a second think the Bucks won't care if he lied. They'll be losing those prime development years and he'll be much closer to a finished product. Therfore his chances of being a bust rise exponentially and his ceiling is much lower. There's nothing good about it. Plus it was the Bucks who already wasted #6 on the aforementioned Jianlian. They are not going to be happy about being conned twice.

Even more reason to root for Thon 'Long Con' Maker. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice and I'm a dumbass.