Bulls guard Josh Giddey flipping the script to make a run at All-Star
ATLANTA – Josh Giddey isn’t much into Hollywood endings, but even he thought the pitch for the script sounded “pretty cool.”
Aussie hoop star travels to the United States, gets selected No. 6 overall in the NBA draft, falls out of favor after three seasons, admittedly “rock bottom,” gets traded, but finds a new home in Chicago. And the classic Hollywood ending? Ends up becoming an All-Star.
That’s where the script remains unfinished. At least for now.
“When you put it like that it does sound pretty cool,” Giddey said with a smirk. “You know, I always believed I had the talent and ability to be at that level. I guess it took a new situation to fully unlock who I am as a player. I give a lot of credit to teammates and coaches to put me in position to be successful.”
Successful is one thing, and he checks that box so far this season, but All-Star level player? Don’t discount it.
All the 6-foot-7 guard did in Tuesday’s come-from-behind win in Atlanta was record his seventh triple-double of the season, scoring 19 points, handing out 15 assists and grabbing 11 rebounds. Through 27 games, he’s averaging 20 points, 9.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists.
The NBA All-Star Game is unveiling a new format for this year’s winter classic, still going with 24 players for the game, but building it out into two USA Teams and one World Team with eight players each. The five shoo-ins for the World Team are likely Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama. The last three spots is where it gets interesting as Alperen Sengun, Lauri Markkanen and Giddey are the three likely leaders heading into January.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was clear on where he places Giddey.
“I think if you look at his body of work and what he’s meant to our team, how well he has played, and how that’s impacted our team, I don’t think there’s any reason he shouldn’t be considered for the All-Star Team,” Donovan said. “He’s put himself in that position.
“Now, our record and where we at there may be some people that look at the winning maybe has a higher priority as they vote, but if you look at the impact he’s had on our team from the start of the season until now, there’s no question he should be in strong consideration for that in my opinion.”
Giddey has an opinion too, and while he stressed that winning games between now and selection time was the priority, he wasn’t going to pretend he hasn’t thought about what an All-Star appearance would mean to him.
“Every player wants to be an All-Star, all those things when the first get drafted, get into the league, and I’m no different,” Giddey said. “Everyone has individual aspirations. They’re lying if they say they don’t, but it’s about not letting it get in the way of the team.
“I want to be an All-Star, everybody inside (the locker room) wants to be an All-Star, but you got to be able to do that inside the team and win games while trying to do individual things as well. Winning solves everything and all the individual stuff comes after that.”
Not bad for a guy that at the end of the 2023-24 season for the Thunder was being pulled from the starting lineup and games all together in the playoffs.
His self-described “rock bottom.”
“It can take hitting rock bottom, especially for me in the NBA career, because it can go away like that,” Giddey said, reflecting back about his trade from Oklahoma City to the Bulls. “You get traded once, you get traded twice, and then you start bouncing around the league. I never wanted to be that. I wanted to find a home for a long time and I’m starting to feel like this is where it’s at.”