Before he was even drafted into the NBA in late June, rookie Thon Maker caused some controversy after suspicions arose about whether or not he is actually 19 as he claims to be. Some NBA teams reportedly passed on picking Maker in the 2016 NBA Draft, because they thought he might be older than 19:
While that report initially sounded kind of, well, crazy, several Reddit users put forth a plausible theory and accused the five-star high school phenom of pulling a 21 Jump Street, with the smoking gun being a yearbook photo that appeared to show that Maker had graduated from an Australian high school in 2010.
Maker didn't respond directly to the Reddit theory, but during an #AskThon Twitter Q&A last week, he responded to an inquisitive fan who asked him his age by saying, "I'm 19":
All of that background information brings us to Wednesday night's NBA Summer League game between the Bucks and Mavericks, which featured a live in-game interview with Dallas owner Mark Cuban. At one point, Cuban was asked his thoughts on Maker after the Bucks rookie splashed a step-back three, and he responded by making a joke about his age:
"You know, for a 40 year old, he can still play," Cuban said.
As you can see, this is something Maker's going to have to deal with throughout his NBA career.
