Despite sitting one place off the bottom of the Western Conference table, there has been a shining light for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Josh Giddey has exploded in his NBA rookie season and has been a real standout for the Thunder this season. He leads the way for the Thunder in a number of categories including rebounds per game and assists per game and is in their top three players for points per game, field goal % and steals per game.

His form has drawn plenty of praise from across the game in his rookie season but perhaps none bigger than from Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

Talking to The Sporting News, James had nothing but good things to say about Giddey, “He’s really, really, really good,” James stated plainly before diving deeper into his answer. “He has a great pace about the game. Great vision.“

Giddey’s form this season has been exceptional. He became only the second rookie in history to record three consecutive triple-doubles and this came after he became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, a record James once held up until 2017.

All-Star Weekend

James’ comments came in the build-up to All-Stars weekend and Giddey got the opportunity to participate in the Clorox Rising Stars game, representing Team Worthy. 

This was the first year of a new Rising Stars format, with four teams of seven players – made up of 12 rookies, 12 sophomores and four players from the NBA G League Ignite team – playing in a three-game tournament. The semifinals were each played to 50 points, while the final was played to 25.

Sadly for Giddey, Team Worthy lost their semi-final to Team Isiah in a narrow 50-49 defeat, at one point coming back from a 10-point deficit. Giddey also impressed at the All-Star Weekend in the Skills Challenge, drawing more praise from commentators.

Giddey is the Western Conference’s undisputed best rookie so far this season and he continues to go from strength to strength. Prior to the All-Star Weekend, Giddey had closed the gap in the Kia Rookie Ladder where he finds himself behind Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Scottie Barnes from the Toronto Raptors.

Big opportunity for Giddey

Signed as the sixth pick in the 2021 draft, Giddey has impressed Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, “He’s a really good player. He’s just getting better and better every month,” Daigneault said.

His form to date so far this season has led to Daigneault giving Giddey more responsibility on the court.

Daigneault explained that when Giddey and the Thunder’s other starting guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander share the court on offence, the Aussie can now expect to have the ball more often.

Giddey himself is excited by his growing partnership with Gilgeous-Alexander, “I love playing with him. I think our chemistry is getting better. I think in a few years we could be one of the best backcourts in the league.”

Sadly for the blossoming partnership, they have only managed to play together once since Gilgeous-Alexander came back from an ankle injury that kept him out for a month before Giddey himself was ruled out with a hip injury. The injury is set to keep Giddey out for another couple of weeks and he is not expected back until late March, threatening to end his run of Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards which he has a clean sweep of up until February.

The Thunder will be relying on Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander to form the foundation of their rebuilding project. It has been a tough season for the Thunder who sit at the bottom of the Western Conference table and are the rank outsider to life the Western Conference title at 751.00 with Betway Sports. If Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander get to spend some more time on the court together, we can expect a change in those odds next season.

The future looks bright

There is no doubt that Australian Giddey will be a major talent in the NBA for years to come, and he is already been mentioned with some of the greats of the game. At 6’8 and 200 pounds, Giddey is not especially long or explosive and has room to get stronger, but at just 19 years old, he has tremendous size for a primary ball-handler.

Giddey continues to break records in his rookie season in the NBA and if he can recover from injury, he still has time to knock off a couple more before the season ends. He now owns the three youngest triple-doubles in league history and owns eight double-digit assist games, the third-most ever by a teenager behind LeBron James (11) and Stephon Marbury (9). If he can manage another three games this season, he might well fancy knocking off another of James’ records.

Back home, Australian basketball fans have been quick to get behind Giddey. Whilst Patty Mills from the Brooklyn Nets continues to lead the way when it comes to shirt sales in Australia, Giddey has pushed his way up to fourth on the list behind Mills, Steph Curry and LeBron James with Giannis Antetokounmpo rounding out the top five.

If he continues to set the league alight, he may not have to wait too long until he sees his name on a lot more shirts when he makes the trip back home to Australia.