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Utah Jazz rookie Kyle Filipowski's mom opens up about her estranged son, 20, and his relationship with the 27-year-old woman accused of grooming him since he was in high school
The mother of Utah Jazz rookie and former Duke star Kyle Filipowski has opened up about the schism between her son and the family.
'It's like a loose wire in my brain,' Becky Filipowski told The Salt Lake Tribune in a revealing interview. 'Some days I can find some peace, and there are days that are pretty painful.'
The 20-year-old Kyle was selected by the Jazz in the second round of June's NBA Draft amid shocking allegations he was 'groomed' by his 27-year-old fiancée Caitlin Hutchison beginning when he was 15 – something Becky now questions.
After he was snubbed in the first round of the draft, ESPN reported some teams steered clear of Kyle due to concerns about his relationship with Hutchison, which allegedly led to his estrangement from the rest of the Filipowski clan. Using the term 'Mormon grooming,' Kyle's brother accused Hutchison of 'coercive control' and 'scheming' to entrap him at an early age.
Becky responded to the reports about Kyle on social media, writing: 'You are opening a two-year issue… and she is 28 (sic) with an endgame 3 years ago to have a diamond ring on her hand when Kyle left Duke. He was still in HS.'
Filipowski, 20, has been dating Hutchinson, 27, since he was a senior in high school
Becky Filipowski is pictured with her son Kyle and husband David when Kyle was in high school
Now, although she remains estranged from Kyle, Becky regrets speaking out about her son's relationship with Hutchinson, who declined to speak to the Tribune for the piece.
'We didn't ask for this,' she told the Tribune. 'ESPN came out with that report and opened this up. We responded to that. This has been an issue, painful for us for years before draft night.
'I'm seeing all these reports and they are speculating without doing any research. … Sometimes I wish we never spoke about it.'
To be clear, the Filipowski and Hutchinson families were long-time friends and Caitlin's mother, Amanda, played college hoops with Becky at California State University, Long Beach. And the picture of a young Kyle and Hutchinson that circulated the internet after the draft was actually taken at a barbeque with he two families in 2016.
As Becky explained to the Tribune, Kyle did not admit to dating Hutchinson until November of 2021, when he was 18 and enrolled at Massachusetts boarding school, Wilbraham & Monson Academy. Heading into his freshman year at Duke, Kyle told his mother Hutchinson could 'protect him from the other girls, drugs and alcohol.'
Kyle Filipowski and his fiancée Caitlin Hutchison are seen after Duke won the 2023 ACC title
The young couple is engaged after knowing each other for most of their lives
Hutchinson is seen consoling Filipowski during the NBA Draft at Brooklyn's Barclays Center
Later, when he attended prom with a 20-something Hutchinson, Kyle posted a photo of the couple together online with the caption: 'People will stare. Make it worth their while.'
It was at this time that Becky said she began voicing concerns about the relationship to Kyle, his dorm parent at Wilbraham & Monson, and even the Duke staffers who were recruiting him.
'I warned them about things that were going on,' she said. 'And even then, they're like, 'OK, well, you know, we've got it.'
But Becky doesn't just blame Hutchinson for her estrangement from her son.
In fact, she worries that she's to blame after battling years of depression in the wake of her mother and grandmothers' deaths a few years earlier. Becky has since battled cancer, which she said made it harder to stay in Kyle's life while he was away at school.
Kyle's oldest brother, Daniel, 29, posted a cryptic tweet referring to ‘Mormon grooming and brainwashing’ and suggesting readers ‘join some dots' before being more forthright in slamming Hutchison for allegedly manipulating his brother into a relationship
Becky also rejects the idea that 'Mormon grooming' was taking place between Hutchinson and Kyle, as his brother suggested online.
'This behavior would be bad [for Hutchison] regardless of what faith she was,' Becky said without going into specifics.
At no point in the interview did Becky offer any specific allegations against Hutchinson.
She did, however, reveal a text exchange between Kyle and his brother, Daniel.
'I don't need you s***ing on me and my relationship because you don't know anything [about] it,' read the message.
Kyle would ultimately write off his mother in an email.
'I did everything I could to convince you to support me and my choices, and you made the choice not to,' Kyle wrote. '... Because of the way you've treated me and how you continue to treat me, I don't want you in my life. I wanted you to hear it from me.'
Becky said she is still 'grieving' over the loss of her relationship with Kyle, who is a little more than a month away from starting his NBA career at Utah's training camp.
The Jazz, who are owned by a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, are not concerned about Kyle's relationship.
'We do deep background on all the draft prospects,' Steven Schwartz, Jazz vice president of basketball strategy, told the Tribune. 'We're more than happy to have Kyle join the Jazz, and we're comfortable with everything going on. Really we're excited about who he is as a person, so we're not concerned about that at all.'