Josh Giddey might be the anti-Jordan – but the Australian is finally winning over Chicago | NBA

J.osh Giddey couldn’t help but smile. The normally composed half-court conductor had just learned from a reporter that he was the first Chicago Bull to record consecutive triple-doubles since Michael Jordan more than 30 years ago.

The Australian’s starring role in the 24-point comeback against Philadelphia this week, when he tallied double-digit totals in points, rebounds and assists – hence the “triple” double – ended with an exclamation point.

A sumptuous spontaneous pass for teammate Nikola Vučević’s winning basket meant Giddey was on top of both the match score and his viral highlight. “Huh,” the 23-year-old replied to the reporter, shaking his head, as his distinctive mop of hair moved as one.

Australian audiences were delighted to spot Luc Longley during The Last Dance, the 2020 documentary that helped a new generation learn about the accomplishments of Jordan’s Bulls, even though producers largely overlooked the center’s contribution as a vital member of that team. (Longley’s version of events was later covered by ABC.)

Since then, there have been Australian success stories in the NBA, such as Patty Mills, Andrew Bogut and Joe Ingles, who have won championships or respect in one of the most hyper-competitive sporting arenas in the world. Matthew Dellavedova’s role in Cleveland’s 2016 title alongside LeBron James was as legendary as it was improbable.

Yet Longley’s place in basketball history alongside Jordan has always been a badge of honor for Australian hoops. Now, a smiling Giddey stood alongside Jordan in the same sentence. “No, it’s cool,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and lie and say it’s not cool.”

Scottie Pippen described Jordan as selfish, but Giddey isn’t one to dwell on himself for long. “All the individual things are a by-product of winning and being a really fun team to play with,” the Australian told the reporter.

Giddey should know that. He exploded into the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder and was the youngest player to record a triple-double at the start of 2022, less than three months after turning 19 during his rookie season. But after Giddey started every game and played 31 minutes per game in his second season, Oklahoma City’s coaching staff saw success in another direction.

His minutes dropped to 25 per game the following season, then to 18 in the playoffs, as the Thunder surrounded point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with athletic shooters and defenders. Unfortunately for the Australian, he had proven by this point that he was neither.

Giddey has always been big for a guard, his size helping him compete physically in the lane and for rebounds. His playmaking, pace management and passing have always been elite. But his inconsistent shooting – particularly when dribbling –, his reluctance to use his frame to attack the rim and his difficulties containing fast opponents on the perimeter were always seen as potentially critical limitations.

There are only 30 NBA teams, and therefore few players who can become primary point guards. But only half that number become a point guard with winning records. The Bulls’ mediocrity last season, after they traded the highly regarded Alex Caruso for Giddey, threatened to force the Australian into a career on the NBA pine if he couldn’t be useful as a starter for a playoff contender.

Giddey’s form actually increased in the second half of the season, but his extended off-season contract extension showed that Bulls general manager Artūras Karnišovas – like much of Chicago’s demanding fanbase – was still not convinced of his value.

Seven games into the new season, and Giddey is starting to change perceptions. Many Bulls fans admitted they were wrong about him on social media this week. Others have gone further. “Michael Josh Giddey Jordan. It’s over, we won three chips in a row,” one of them said on Instagram, under the video of the winner, in a comment liked nearly 2,000 times.

The Australian averages nearly a triple double with 23 points. His three-point shooting rate is above league average and he attacks the rim, getting to the free throw line twice as often as last season.

But above all, he helps his team win. The Bulls are off to their best start to a season since Jordan’s 1996 peak and sit atop the Eastern Conference, one of only two teams – alongside Giddey’s old friends in the Thunder – with just one loss.

Jordan and Giddey have little in common, other than the red and black jerseys they both wore, as well as that obscure statistical feat highlighted this week. To be clear, Giddey might be best described – as an awkwardly upright, team-oriented, go-first playmaker and suburban kid from Melbourne, Australia – as the anti-Jordan.

Put the man known as Mike on any team and he would have been a star, such were his physical and mental qualities. Jordan is known as the most competitive athlete of all time, brash and combative, and able to back it up in any competition.

Giddey will never shoot from the free-throw line or turn around the fortunes of a sporting goods manufacturer, but for Chicago fans — who have now waited 26 years for a seventh NBA title — it may be within his power to do something just as important: help the Bulls succeed.

The Australian knows, after his experience in Oklahoma City, that he needs the faith of those around him. “I’m grateful to have teammates and coaches that put me in a position to succeed,” he said.