Josh Giddey

Josh Giddey is the most talented Australian basketball player currently in the NBA, and the fact that he is running a storied franchise’s entire offence at age 22 tells you everything about where he sits in the basketball hierarchy. Born in Melbourne on October 10, 2002, into basketball royalty — father Warrick played professionally in Australia, mother Kim represented Australia in netball — Giddey was drafted sixth overall by Oklahoma City in 2021 after starring for the Adelaide 36ers as a teenager. The Thunder traded him to Chicago in 2024. Their rebuilding project did not need him. The Bulls’ rebuilding project was desperate for him.

Giddey has flourished as Chicago’s primary playmaker, posting career-best averages of 18.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game in 2024-25 — the kind of stat line that screams triple-double threat every night he takes the court. At 6-foot-8, his court vision is extraordinary — he sees passing angles that exist only in his mind until the ball arrives at the intended destination — and his development as a scorer has added the one dimension that critics insisted he lacked. The $100 million contract extension signed in September 2025 is not a bet on potential. It is an investment in proven production from a 22-year-old franchise cornerstone.

For Australian basketball fans, Giddey is the brightest hope since Andrew Bogut went number one, and his development trajectory suggests the ceiling is considerably higher than anything we have seen from an Australian in the NBA. His games on ESPN via Kayo Sports are essential viewing, his Boomers representation is a source of national pride, and watching a Melbourne kid command a six-championship franchise is the kind of story that transcends the sport itself.

Career Statistics

Player Profile

Josh Giddey plays guard for the Chicago Bulls and is Australia’s premier NBA star — a Melbourne-born playmaker who averaged 18.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game in 2024-25 while running the offence of a six-championship franchise at age 22. His $100 million contract extension is a statement of intent from both the player and the franchise. Giddey is the Bulls’ future. He is also the brightest light in Australian basketball. Both things are true, and both things are extraordinary.

VS — Chief sports columnist, australiafootball.com