Iggy Azalea's boyfriend thinks Nicki Minaj is jealous of her.

The 'Super Bass' hitmaker took an apparent swipe at her Australian rival at the BET Awards last month, when she appeared to criticise the 'Fancy' singer for using ghostwriters, but basketball star Nick Young insists it is because the former 'American Idol' judge envies his girlfriend's success.

Nick told the New York Daily News newspaper's Confidenti@l column: ''Iggy is doing big things and that is what is scaring people.

''She is going to brush it off. She won't let it get to her. She is number one -- what can you do? She's at the top right now, so of course they are going to come at you.''

At the time, Iggy insisted she was ''unbothered'' by her rival's diss, but Nick insists that wasn't the case.

He said: ''I had to deal with the aftermath of all that, when she came home and was going through her phones, hearing everybody talking trash about her. I had to be there for her.''

And the LA Lakers player - who has been dating Iggy for almost a year - does his best to take his girlfriend's mind of the stress of her work.

He explained: ''We always hang out and try to get her mind off what is going on out there on the news.

''We go roller-skating, to theme parks and Six Flags and try to have a good time and do down-to-earth stuff. We have sweats on, hoodies on at Six Flags, just us two, and you will never know [who we are].''

Despite Nick's comments, and while Nicki's remarks that ''When you hear Nicki Minaj spit, Nicki Minaj wrote it,'' were widely assumed to be a dig at Iggy, the 'Starships' singer later denied that was the case.

She tweeted: ''The media puts words in my mouth all the time and this is no different... [I] congratulated Iggy on the success of Fancy, publicly.(sic)''