# 270: Josh Giddey (Part A)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 9 Jun 2026, 41 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/xz0r8n739tfafmeua9i76scd.mp3

He is one of Australia's biggest sporting stars. From suburban Melbourne courts to the bright lights of the NBA. From idolising Buddy Franklin, following Hawthorn religiously, and even taking a year away from basketball to focus on football, to the decision that ultimately changed his life forever. The Chicago Bulls star then takes us inside one of the defining moments of his career, his unforgettable game-winning buzzer beater over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. In a rare breakdown, Josh talks through the play, what he was thinking in the moment, why the shot was perhaps easier than people realise, and the surreal experience of seeing LeBron standing between him and a career highlight. He opens up about getting drafted into the NBA, adapting to life in America, representing Australia on the world stage, and the lessons learned from making it to the very top of professional basketball. This is a brilliant look inside the life of an Aussie thriving on the biggest basketball stage in the world. Checkout Courtside in Melbourne, a world-class facility designed for all players at every level - from grassroots talent to future NBL and NBA stars. *** Follow the Howie Games on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehowiegamespod/ Follow the Howie Games on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehowiegames See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:04] Okay, are you recording?
[0:10] Rightio team, here is an episode for you.
[0:14] Welcome along to episode 270 of the Howie Games Part A, featuring absolute jet NBA star Josh Giddey.
[0:24] Giddey, the spin on Haliburton.
[0:26] Oh, nice.
[0:27] Nice move by Josh Giddey.
[0:29] Oh, there it is.
[0:30] Giddey takes the breath away of the fans here in Tokyo.
[0:35] But still, Josh Giddey.
[0:37] He throws it down to Carter.
[0:39] Sets up his three.
[0:40] Giddy raises to the basket.
[0:41] Fires it out.
[0:42] Mujovic's the shot.
[0:43] Nice defense by Jones Giddy.
[0:46] And done in the passing lane.
[0:47] It's tipped out to Giddy for three.
[0:49] Oh, Giddy up.
[0:51] This episode was recorded with Josh in April, just before he was about to head to the G to watch the footy, in conjunction with the launch of his epic shoe.
[1:00] Yep, the man has got his own shoe with Puma, the Puma All Pro Nitro 2 Giddy, which are available to whack on your feet right now.
[1:08] So get to the shop, get online, get them on your feet.
[1:11] Now, when you hear Josh's story and what he has achieved already, you will realise why Puma have given him a shoe.
[1:17] This is a normal, engaging 23-year-old dude living a very abnormal life in the NBA.
[1:24] Some very cool stories about to come your way.
[1:27] So you search and try to find, but you don't know where to go.
[1:32] So many thoughts flood through your mind.
[1:35] You confuse and want to know, mystery, what is to be?
[1:40] So much more than meets the eye.
[1:43] Listen to me, time is your key.
[1:46] You will find out by and by.
[1:49] Thanks to the absolute powerhouse that is Kate Foley for making this episode happen, alongside Josh's agent, Daniel Moldovit, of Lighthouse Sports Management.
[1:59] Before we roll, you need to check out the brand new series in your Howie Games feed right now.
[2:04] It is called The Big Five.
[2:05] I'm pumped about it.
[2:06] More about The Big Five later in this episode.
[2:09] All righty.
[2:10] Enjoy the story of Joshua James Giddey.
[2:13] Big time.
[2:16] So when you search and then you find And know just where to go And thoughts that once used to cloud your mind You see clearly and now you know Mystery, what is to be revealed In King Selassie Come on children, trod with me We want to reach Mount Zion
[2:40] I tell you what, the building's excited about this.
[2:42] There's been a lot of excitement in the whole Howie Games team, the wider operation here because we are welcoming a young man that represents his country wonderfully on the world stage.
[2:52] He's dominating the NBA.
[2:53] He plays for his country.
[2:55] And he's a larger-than-life figure, and we are proud in Melbourne to call him one of our own.
[2:59] Josh Giddey, welcome to Howie Games.
[3:01] How are you, mate?
[3:01] Thanks for having me, Howie.
[3:02] Doing good.
[3:02] Excited to be here.
[3:03] We have got so much to talk about, but as we're recording this, it'll come out a bit later, but I'm off to the footy tonight, Hawthorne Collingwood.
[3:09] I get the opportunity to call it.
[3:11] We spent some time in a box watching Carlton last year, which nearly destroyed my wife and Dave Hughes because they lost again.
[3:18] But you have...
[3:21] A love for football.
[3:22] Yeah.
[3:22] I saw it in the box.
[3:24] We've got mutual mates, Luke Tunnicliffe, that you go to the footy with a lot.
[3:27] You love the footy.
[3:28] And he tells me you know more about the game than anyone else he knows.
[3:30] Yeah.
[3:31] No, I do know a lot about it.
[3:32] And obviously, I grew up playing it until I was about 15, 16.
[3:36] I grew up my whole life watching.
[3:37] Buddy Franklin was my favorite player when I was a kid.
[3:39] Are you a Hawthorne supporter?
[3:40] I was a Hawks man growing up my whole life.
[3:42] What?
[3:42] Yeah, I know.
[3:43] What happened?
[3:44] I know.
[3:44] I didn't.
[3:44] I'm not going to say I'll switch, but I became a Collingwood fan just because I became close with, I know I became close with Tommy Mitchell and the Dacos brothers and I just became mates with them.
[3:52] So I used to watch a lot of their games and then I started going to a lot of Pies games.
[3:56] So naturally started following them a lot more, but you know, footy, I'll literally go to any game, Marvel, the G, Interstate.
[4:03] Like we were flying to Adelaide for the prelim finals last year.
[4:06] So I'll go watch any game, but yeah, always been a big footy fan.
[4:09] Love it.
[4:09] Watch as much as I can.
[4:10] So it's a Hawthorne v. Collingwood tonight.
[4:12] So are you going back
[4:13] to your roots as a young man or are you going, because Tommy Mitch doesn't play for the Pies League, obviously the Dacos boys do.
[4:19] Who are you actually going for tonight?
[4:21] I'm a neutral tonight.
[4:21] I'm not going for anyone.
[4:22] Neutral.
[4:23] Sit on the fence.
[4:23] Sit on the fence.
[4:24] Before we get into hoops, et cetera, your footy career, who were you playing with?
[4:29] Were you playing APS for the St. Kev's or who were you playing footy with?
[4:31] I played one year APS in year eight.
[4:34] I was basketball seven, nine, ten, but year eight, I took a year off basketball.
[4:37] I went to footy.
[4:38] And then juniors, I played in the Western WRFL for the Yavil Seddon Eagles my whole career.
[4:43] So yeah, as I said, when I got to about 16, I had to decide which path I was going to take.
[4:47] And it wasn't an easy decision for me.
[4:48] I was really contemplating going with footy, but obviously it got to a point where I had to pick and I chose basketball.
[4:53] And I haven't regretted the choice, but I've always wondered, you know, what if and what could have been with footy.
[4:59] We'll get into it, but I reckon your financial planner would be reasonably happy with the decision you made.
[5:03] So what position did you play?
[5:05] Were you a spring-heeled ruckman or a forward?
[5:07] And then I want you to compare yourself to a current player as a footballer.
[5:11] I would say Luke Jackson.
[5:12] Luke Jackson.
[5:13] That would probably be the guy I'd compare myself to.
[5:14] I was a ruckman.
[5:15] I was pretty tall, like mobile for a ruckman.
[5:17] I was pretty big.
[5:18] So that would probably be the one guy I could count myself to.
[5:20] Could go forward, kick goals.
[5:21] So, yeah, probably him.
[5:23] We'll get through your journey, mate, but as you sit here, you are playing for probably the most storied basketball franchise in the history of the game, the Chicago Bulls.
[5:32] You are, as we're about to do this, by the time it goes out, you will have launched your own shoe with Puma.
[5:38] You're a global brand.
[5:40] As a kid from Melbourne, do you ever just sort of wake up in the morning and pinch yourself?
[5:44] And it's due to your talent and your hard work, but do you ever sort of pinch yourself and think, this is just out of this world?
[5:50] Yeah.
[5:51] Could you even dream this big as a kid?
[5:53] Yeah.
[5:53] No, I definitely do have those moments.
[5:55] And I think, you know, when you're a kid, when I was a kid at least, I always wanted to be an NBL player.
[5:59] I wanted to stay in Australia playing the league here.
[6:02] And I never really thought about the NBA.
[6:04] I always admired NBA players.
[6:05] I have posters up in my – I still have it in my childhood room in Yarravo where I grew up.
[6:10] I always wanted to just be a professional player.
[6:12] And then as things progressed and I slowly became an NBA player and then once you get to the NBA, everyone wants to sign that second contract.
[6:20] You want to stay in the NBA.
[6:20] And I was fortunate enough to do that.
[6:22] So things have moved very quickly in the last probably five or six years.
[6:25] But yeah, I definitely do have those pinch me moments where
[6:28] It's, you know, and it's obviously the basketball side, but even like the outside stuff that comes to the doors you can get through just being in that platform, playing in the NBA.
[6:35] So there's a lot that comes with it.
[6:37] But, yeah, it's everything I've ever dreamt of and everything I've ever wanted to do.
[6:40] And, you know, there's days that aren't so glamorous, but there's a lot of things that come with it that are, you know, only things you could dream of.
[6:46] I want to talk to you about the grind of it, the 82 games, as well as the glamour.
[6:49] You mentioned, I'm going to put you on the spot, off the top of your head when you say doors open to you.
[6:53] Give me an explanation of a door, not literally a door, but something that's opened to you and you sat there and met someone or been invited to something and you thought, yeah, life's going okay.
[7:03] Yeah, I think obviously the people you meet –
[7:07] I'd say, you know, financial opportunities, investment opportunities, doors that would have never been opened to me before I was in the NBA that are now are.
[7:14] The people, like, it's just, I don't know, you have put me on this post.
[7:18] I'm trying to think of one off the top of my head, but I think that would be the big one for me, like financial opportunities.
[7:23] Like even some of the smalls get into a box at the AFL.
[7:26] Like, you know, it's just, things are easier, you know, when you're in the NBA.
[7:29] NBA.
[7:31] Yeah.
[7:31] So I think there's a lot of things that come with it.
[7:33] Maybe you can get, you know, backstage at concerts or you can get into different places.
[7:37] It's just things like that, that have their little perks.
[7:39] But there's also things that aren't as glamorous as they may seem.
[7:42] And as you said, the grind of a season is long and hard.
[7:45] And yeah, there's a lot of great things.
[7:47] I'm not going to sit here and complain about the life we get to live.
[7:49] But yeah, there's also things that come with it that aren't as, you know, pretty as they may seem.
[7:53] Which we'll explore.
[7:54] So the way it's been explained to me, tomorrow you've got a photo shoot, I believe.
[7:59] So you're a Puma global ambassador.
[8:01] Like I think back to Jordan and what he was doing with his shoes and then Shaq, what he's doing with his shoes.
[8:06] It's now you doing this type of shoe stuff.
[8:09] So the Puma All Pro Nitro 2 Giddy Outback, you got your own shoe, man.
[8:14] Yeah.
[8:15] Yeah, it's pretty cool.
[8:16] How does it even happen?
[8:17] Yeah, it's obviously been a long thing in the works.
[8:20] And obviously Kate, who you just met, she's been the mastermind behind the whole thing.
[8:22] She's just a tornado of positivity and action, isn't she?
[8:26] I'll ascertain that in a minute.
[8:28] Yeah, she is.
[8:29] And she's been kind of the mastermind behind the whole thing.
[8:31] Yeah, I mean, my whole life, I always wore other people's shoes.
[8:35] I've always wanted, and I've always kind of thought of the idea of having my own shoe.
[8:38] I never thought it was going to happen.
[8:39] I never thought it was possible.
[8:40] And then I was with Nike for four years, my first four years in the NBA with Nike here.
[8:45] And then that contract expired, and I was kind of weighing out my options.
[8:48] And Puma came to us and presented this idea of getting my own shoe, and I signed a four-year deal with them.
[8:55] When I heard that, my antennas were up immediately, and that's something I've always wanted to do.
[9:00] So I was super excited for that, and it gets released.
[9:02] It's been a long time in the works.
[9:03] It gets released on Saturday at Quartzsite, which is our venue we opened about 18 months ago as well.
[9:08] So to have both those things in the place where we opened up is something pretty special.
[9:13] I've seen the shoes on your Insta and they are, well, they are the Outback colors.
[9:17] There's orange in there.
[9:18] There's yellow in there.
[9:19] They're very cool shoes.
[9:19] You mentioned courtside as well, which I read a little bit about.
[9:22] You talked about business opportunities.
[9:24] People listen to this, what's courtside?
[9:25] Yeah.
[9:26] This is another incredible thing.
[9:28] You've got your fingers in a few pies.
[9:30] Yeah.
[9:30] No, you're right.
[9:31] Courtside was something that we thought about.
[9:34] This was probably three or four years ago now.
[9:35] We thought of having something all under one roof where it was basketball training.
[9:39] There's a cafe.
[9:40] There's retail stores.
[9:42] You can get your hair cut.
[9:43] You can shop.
[9:43] There's a million different things to do.
[9:44] Yeah.
[9:46] you know, I'm not going to sit here and say I didn't have great facilities when I was a kid.
[9:49] Like I had access to a lot of different basketball courts and things, but we always floated the idea of having everything under one roof.
[9:54] And that's kind of the idea of courtside and it's in Port Melbourne.
[9:56] It's kind of, we tried to make it neutral for people from all around Melbourne to get to.
[9:59] And yeah, it's been over about 18 months.
[10:01] There's a massive retail space.
[10:03] There's courts.
[10:03] So if you want to work out, it's for this full-time coaches, full-time staff.
[10:06] So, it's for talent kids of any age and any level.
[10:10] So yeah, it's doing really well.
[10:13] And
[10:13] And as I said, to be able to release my own shoe in a building that I'm an owner of is something very exciting.
[10:18] We've wandered into your business interest very quickly, which wasn't – well, there is typically no plan ever with this show.
[10:22] But you've obviously got some very clever people around you.
[10:26] But in the end, these things are your decision.
[10:28] When all these different opportunities from a business perspective come your way, and there's a responsibility with – obviously, with the money you're earning, which we can talk about.
[10:35] Again, you deserve every cent of it for your hard work and your talent.
[10:39] But –
[10:40] How do you decide what you think, yeah, I'm keen on that or I'm not sure about that?
[10:46] Well, obviously, I have a financial advisor who kind of guides me in that aspect and he's been around for years and he's seen a lot of deals and most specifically with private equity stuff.
[10:55] I think he brings a lot of stuff to the table.
[10:58] And for me, a lot of the things I invest in are things I believe in and things I actually will use or it's a product that I could see myself using down the line or whatever it is.
[11:05] But
[11:07] Yeah, they bring it to me, they tell me the pros, the cons of it, and yeah, ultimately it's my decision, but I trust them a lot.
[11:12] It's what I pay them for, and yeah, they guide me in those decisions.
[11:16] So as I said, I mean, earlier, there's a lot of doors that open up for you once you kind of get into the NBA and make the type of money that we're fortunate enough to make.
[11:26] It's good to have good people around you that have your best interest at heart.
[11:31] And the people that are in my financial team really do.
[11:34] Yeah, they business-wise.
[11:36] They'll tell me if I come to them and they don't like it, they think it's not something that can be valuable down the line, they'll squash it straight away.
[11:42] So it's good to be able to have those conversations, honest ones, where you're not beating around the bush and they'll tell me exactly how it is.
[11:48] So appreciative of your time.
[11:49] I've got so many questions to ask you.
[11:52] I'm fascinated by the world in which you live.
[11:53] And when we get different athletes from Australia that have gone over and performed in America, I begin to understand the cutthroat nature of the business side of your world, which we can get to.
[12:02] But where does it all start?
[12:03] Obviously, there's a giddy before you who was pretty good at basketball.
[12:06] Yeah.
[12:07] Yeah, my dad, he played a long time for the Melbourne Tigers.
[12:11] He started his career in Illawarra.
[12:13] He played rugby, rugby league and union.
[12:16] He actually played for Australia for both league and union and basketball in the same year.
[12:19] So he was kind of weighing up what sport he wanted to play in.
[12:21] This is talented.
[12:22] Yeah, so he was pretty tough, you know, a competitor.
[12:24] Yeah, obviously he played basketball.
[12:25] He played for the Tigers a long time.
[12:27] His jersey's hanging up in the arena.
[12:28] So he played with like Gazy and Copeland?
[12:30] Yeah, they won championships.
[12:31] together.
[12:31] So he played with all those guys.
[12:32] And yeah, so I was kind of born into basketball in a sense.
[12:36] My mom played as well for the Melbourne Tigers.
[12:38] That's where they met.
[12:38] So yeah, I've always been around the game from a very, very early age.
[12:42] So who, in your mind, what was your first competitive game of basketball?
[12:46] How old were you?
[12:47] Who are you playing for?
[12:47] It may not be your first, but the first that you can remember.
[12:50] I was playing for my – I was five.
[12:52] I was in prep when I started playing for a team, and it was my Wembley primary school team in Yarraville.
[12:57] Right.
[12:58] That was the first one I remember.
[12:59] I mean, I don't remember a lot about the game, but, yeah, we're running around.
[13:02] I remember the coaches are allowed to walk around on the court when you're that age.
[13:05] My dad's on the court while we're playing.
[13:07] So that's the first real memory I have.
[13:09] But, yeah, ever since then I've always loved it and never looked back.
[13:12] What was it about the game that grabbed you?
[13:14] Obviously you look up to your parents as a youngster, and obviously they're involved in the sport.
[13:17] But what was it about –
[13:19] basketball that grabbed you specifically, the sport, the game?
[13:22] Well, I think when I was young, it was about the friendships I made.
[13:26] My best friend to this day is a kid I met when I was playing basketball when I was 10 years old.
[13:30] So that was the early aspect of it, the relationships.
[13:32] My best friends at primary school, I was playing basketball with every day.
[13:35] So getting to do something I love with my best friends was something I always wanted to do.
[13:39] And then as I got older, I think a lot of it was about-
[13:42] One, those relationships, the places you get to travel.
[13:44] Basketball is global.
[13:45] It's everywhere in the world.
[13:47] And it was just something I had a passion for, you know, and it was never pushed on me by my parents or anyone around me.
[13:52] It was something that I naturally gravitated to, and I always wanted to do it.
[13:55] So, you know, basketball has been something I've loved ever since I could remember.
[13:59] They put a ball in my hands very early, and I never look back.
[14:01] So, yeah, the relationships would be the big one, but also the places that it could take you.
[14:05] And I always thought it was going to be for me in the NBL Australia and then hopefully some stints internationally.
[14:10] But...
[14:11] I was fortunate enough to – it's landed me in America in the NBA.
[14:14] So, yeah, that was probably the two reasons for me.
[14:17] At what age – and I ask this of every guest, and I always use the analogy, there's Ricky Ponting.
[14:23] I have 260 episodes.
[14:24] He's probably one in 10 that always had the natural talent that he was going to be able to play for Australia –
[14:29] And I use the same one, Justin Langer, who had to work his ass off to get to that.
[14:33] How talented were you as a junior basketball?
[14:36] Like, did you dominate every competition you played in and win the MVP every year?
[14:40] Or did you have a slow build?
[14:43] Where do you sit on that scale?
[14:44] Oh, definitely slow build.
[14:45] I mean – Really?
[14:46] I love that.
[14:46] Yeah, it was – I'm not sure how familiar you are, but we have like state teams when you're a young kid and under-16s, under-18s.
[14:51] And I didn't make it any of those years until finally I was top eight.
[14:55] So you didn't make under-16 Victoria?
[14:56] No, I didn't make the 16s.
[14:57] I missed out my first year of 18s and the second year of 18s was the first state team I'd ever made.
[15:01] Really, Josh?
[15:02] So I was 16 years, 17 years old when I made my first one.
[15:04] Wow.
[15:04] Yeah, I was a late bloomer.
[15:05] I was never like a –
[15:06] I was always a good player.
[15:07] I was never, you know, I'm not going to say I completely came out of nowhere.
[15:09] I was always good, but no one probably looked at me as a junior and thought this kid's going to be a professional or anything like that.
[15:16] And I was a pretty late bloomer.
[15:17] I grew a lot when I was about 16 to 17.
[15:19] How tall are you now?
[15:20] I'm about 6'8".
[15:20] Okay.
[15:21] So I grew a lot.
[15:22] That probably helped a lot.
[15:23] And, yeah, I'm not going to say I came out of nowhere, but that growing helped.
[15:27] And, yeah, my talent just started to get better and better.
[15:30] And, obviously, I went to the Institute of Sport up in Canberra when I was –
[15:33] 16 or 17.
[15:34] I was there for 18 months.
[15:35] Good experience?
[15:36] Yeah, unbelievable.
[15:37] Unbelievable.
[15:38] At the time, I didn't love it.
[15:40] Well, you got to move to Canberra.
[15:41] Yeah, that was probably the thing.
[15:42] Say goodbye to all your mates at St. Kev's that you've grown up with.
[15:45] Exactly.
[15:46] So I didn't love it at the time, but looking back, I was having this talk with one of the boys I went there with not long ago, and you look back on it, and it was such an unbelievable memory, getting to live with your friends, play basketball every day.
[15:56] The school up there is so-so.
[15:58] It's not really school.
[15:59] We spend more time playing basketball.
[16:00] So-
[16:01] So, yeah, unbelievable experience.
[16:03] And if I could do it again, I would.
[16:04] But at the time when I was there, it's a grind and it's tough.
[16:07] But, yeah, looking back at it now, I love that 18 months.
[16:10] To get an indication of you as an athlete and a person.
[16:13] So you try out for the under-16 team for Victoria.
[16:16] You don't make it.
[16:17] How does that sit with 16-, 17-year-old Josh Giddey?
[16:20] Yeah, I was in tears.
[16:21] I remember the first under-16 team I didn't make.
[16:23] I didn't even make it.
[16:23] They have like different tryout stages.
[16:25] And I got cut probably in the second or third one.
[16:27] And there's like four or five total.
[16:29] So I remember I was in tears in the car.
[16:31] My dad and sister were in the car with me driving home.
[16:33] We were out at Knox and State Center.
[16:34] And it was a long drive home.
[16:35] So...
[16:36] And we got stuck in peak hour traffic.
[16:38] And I still remember this.
[16:38] I was in the car crying.
[16:39] And yeah, the next year I came back, I thought I was going to make it.
[16:43] I was an emergency for the team.
[16:44] And then finally, when I was 17 years old, I made my first one.
[16:47] So it drove me every year.
[16:49] I was always right there on the cusp, but I could just never get over that hump.
[16:52] And when I finally did, it felt like four years of hard work had finally paid off.
[16:56] So your first, I'll make a few notes.
[16:58] I don't like to refer to them too much.
[16:59] But you signed with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia.
[17:03] 2020.
[17:05] A lot of this is public record.
[17:08] I think I always ask these questions of American athletes that perform in America so you can see, and also footballers, soccer players, so you can see where they come and where they end up.
[17:18] So off the top of your mind, if you don't mind me asking, what would you have been getting paid in your first year to play for Adelaide?
[17:26] I want to say 60 grand.
[17:27] 60 grand for the year.
[17:28] And I thought I was a multi, multi-millionaire.
[17:31] Well, that's not bad as a kid.
[17:32] I was 17 years old when I signed that, and it was unbelievable.
[17:34] I was so excited.
[17:35] I remember it, and I remember getting my paychecks every two weeks, and I was on top of the world.
[17:40] But, yeah, that was the first ever contract I made was 60 grand with Adelaide.
[17:44] So the way I've written it down here, first game, January 15, 2021, versus Melbourne United.
[17:50] That's your first professional game of basketball.
[17:52] What are your memories?
[17:53] Do you walk out in the court thinking, holy heck, or do you walk out in the court thinking, oh, I've got this?
[17:57] Bit of both.
[17:57] Obviously nerves because I was 18 actually, and my family and friends had all flown up from Melbourne to come watch the game.
[18:05] Melbourne was the team I grew up supporting my whole childhood because my dad played there, then he coached there, and it was in Melbourne.
[18:09] So there's a lot of guys in that team that I grew up idolizing, and then I'm on the court with them 12 months later.
[18:16] So a lot of nerves, but I felt like I belonged in Melbourne.
[18:20] Yeah, my career started off slower.
[18:22] Like, I came off the bench for Adelaide.
[18:23] I wasn't playing a whole lot of minutes early on.
[18:26] And then, yeah, it slowly ramped up as the season went on.
[18:28] But, yeah, that first game, I remember Melbourne, we got smashed at home.
[18:31] But, yeah, I was just excited to be out there for my first one.
[18:33] First season NBL Rookie of the Year.
[18:38] Giddey drops two on them.
[18:41] Giddey this time.
[18:42] All the way down the other end.
[18:44] Giddey from outside.
[18:45] Giddey.
[18:46] Then July 29, 2021, you get drafted.
[18:49] Sixth overall by OKC.
[18:51] With the sixth pick in the 2021 NBA draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select Josh Giddey from Melbourne, Australia, and the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia.
[19:06] What happens in the lead up to the draft?
[19:08] Give me an indication of what's going on around you in the NBA draft.
[19:12] This stuff fascinates me.
[19:14] Well, it's a long process.
[19:16] I think from the point of we are at Adelaide when I was playing, we got knocked out of playoff contention.
[19:22] So we kind of, me and the general manager at Adelaide, we all agreed that it was best to shut my season down and start preparing for the draft because it was in two or three months after that.
[19:31] Preparing for the draft.
[19:32] What does that mean?
[19:33] Well, that means starting to ramp up.
[19:34] I had to get over to America because I had to do workouts with teams.
[19:38] So in front of you, you go and like – I'm going to sound stupid here, but you dribble lay up.
[19:43] You're out on the court.
[19:44] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[19:44] Are you doing like physical testing as well?
[19:46] So they have a thing called the NBA Combine.
[19:48] which is similar to the AFL combine.
[19:50] You do all your vertical.
[19:51] And I didn't go to that.
[19:51] I skipped it because I thought for me, like that environment is not good for who I am as a player.
[19:56] It just that they play in like, they play pickup games where they play five on five and players will get out there and play.
[20:00] And that type of game is just not who I am as a player.
[20:03] So we made the decision to not go to that.
[20:05] And I did two workouts.
[20:06] I did one where I was working out.
[20:08] I was in Orange County in Southern California.
[20:09] And I did one with Golden State and I did one with Oklahoma.
[20:13] And the Golden State workout was...
[20:15] Really my first time around any NBA personnel.
[20:17] I remember everyone, Steve Kerr, Joe Lake, everyone came in the gym, and it was me, my trainer, and all these Golden State people, and I'm working out.
[20:26] Yeah, I was nervous.
[20:28] I love it.
[20:28] Funnily enough, I worked out really well, and they had the seventh pick.
[20:31] So worked out, got to meet them and hang out with them after that workout.
[20:35] All great people.
[20:36] And, yeah, about a week later, I worked out in front of Oklahoma.
[20:40] Very similar situation where all their people came into the building, did my workout.
[20:44] You've got to be –
[20:45] Like, you can't take too many nerves into the – like, this is a big deal, yeah?
[20:50] It's massive.
[20:51] And for the Golden State one, my trainer worked me out.
[20:53] But when I came to Oklahoma, I prepared as if my trainer was going to work me out again.
[20:57] But he didn't.
[20:58] Oklahoma came in.
[20:58] They wanted to run the workout.
[20:59] So I'm like, oh, God.
[21:01] Anyway, the head coach ran the workout.
[21:03] And –
[21:05] Yeah, it went well.
[21:06] I played shot well.
[21:07] I worked out well.
[21:08] And they had the sixth pick.
[21:10] And at the time, I wasn't projected to go anywhere near that high.
[21:13] Like no one had me going top 10, barely.
[21:15] And when DraftKnight came around, I still had no idea where I was going to go.
[21:19] I thought I could go anywhere from pick six, which is Oklahoma, to pick 20, which I don't even know who that was.
[21:23] So where are you on DraftKnight?
[21:25] So, yeah, so probably three days before draft night, we're in L.A. and we fly into New York and all the players stay at the same hotel.
[21:30] And it's a madhouse in there.
[21:32] There's media and, you know, all types of people are there.
[21:35] And I'm there with my family, my agent, you know, PR people.
[21:38] We're all staying in the same hotel.
[21:39] Yeah.
[21:40] There's a lot of events you do, photo shoots and media opportunities, the days leading up to the draft.
[21:44] And then draft day is probably the busy day because we all have a lunch with Adam Silver, who's the commissioner of the league.
[21:50] And all the players are in a room and it's like a lunch.
[21:53] You have your people at your table.
[21:55] And what does he say?
[21:56] I'm just more so welcoming everyone to the – because all the guys that are in New York are the projected lottery picks.
[22:02] They have a thing called the green room where all the guys that are projected to be picked, the top –
[22:05] in the first round, go to New York.
[22:07] So the NBA will send out invitations.
[22:08] And that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to get picked, but it's who they assume will get picked.
[22:12] And anyway, we're all at the hotel and Adam has a lunch with all the players.
[22:16] And after that, we all get on the bus.
[22:18] It's probably three o'clock to go to Barclays Center, which is where the draft is held.
[22:22] And the draft doesn't start until like seven.
[22:24] So we're there for a long time doing...
[22:26] There's a red carpet where you're doing photos and media stuff.
[22:28] We're in the back eating food.
[22:29] And I didn't know any of the guys or all the players in my draft class.
[22:33] And we're sitting there.
[22:34] And then finally at about...
[22:35] 6.15, we all go out to the floor where all the tables are and the stage is set, and I'm sitting there, and I still had no idea where I was going to go.
[22:44] And my agents at the time, they made me turn my phone off because I don't know if you know this, but they spoil the draft.
[22:51] Like a guy called Shams and Adrian, they don't spoil it, but they get the picks ahead of time.
[22:55] This is Woj dude, yeah?
[22:56] This would be like Mitch Cleary or Tom Morris in the breaking news before it happens.
[23:02] They get the picks ahead of it and they tweet it out before it's actually happened.
[23:05] So they shut it down so the players don't know.
[23:07] Yeah.
[23:07] So if I had my phone, I could have got the notification to see it before it actually happened.
[23:11] So I didn't have my phone.
[23:12] So I had no idea.
[23:12] Anyway, the first pick, we all knew who that was going to be, second, third.
[23:16] And when it got to about four or five, it was pretty up in the air.
[23:19] And the way you kind of know if you're getting picked is when cameras will start to come to your table because the clock runs down for five minutes.
[23:24] Each team has five minutes to make their pick.
[23:27] And once it got to the fifth pick, it was Jalen Suggs went to Orlando.
[23:31] Cameras started like fizzling out.
[23:32] And the sixth pick, Oklahoma went on the clock.
[23:34] And at about five minute mark, a couple cameras were at our table.
[23:37] Not many.
[23:38] I didn't think anything of it.
[23:39] And with about a minute on the clock, all the cameras came to our table.
[23:42] So I'm sitting there with my family and agents and friends and all the cameras are there.
[23:46] And I'm like looking around thinking like, am I going to get taken here?
[23:49] And I wanted to go to Oklahoma.
[23:50] That was a place I wanted to get drafted.
[23:51] And then Adam Silver comes out.
[23:53] He announces it.
[23:54] I get drafted there and walk up, shake his hand.
[23:56] And yeah, the rest is kind of history.
[23:57] But it was a crazy night.
[23:59] I want to never forget.
[24:00] So Josh Giddey is the fifth Australian-born player drafted in the lottery, the first since Ben Simmons in 2016.
[24:09] As you heard Commissioner Silver mention, he attended the Global Academy in Australia in 2019 and 2020, won the NBL Rookie of the Year for the 36ers, still a young prospect, and he is now on his way to Oklahoma City.
[24:27] Back to Josh in a tick.
[24:28] Now, I mentioned in the intro our brand new series, The Big Five.
[24:33] I am pumped about this, as you're about to hear.
[24:35] It involves a brand new voice on the Howie Games for the very first time, 10 years in, and we are introducing a new member of the team, not just any member, my football hero, bang, Jason Dunstall, the chief, joins the show.
[24:51] We will be debating, often vigorously, the things we all talk about at the pub, having a coffee with your mates or your girlfriends, at school with your crew, who and what is the best of the best, from five down to one, sporting goats, Aussie songs, old school TV shows, sporting moments.
[25:08] The list is endless.
[25:10] You will be involved in the show as well.
[25:12] The debut episode, big five sports movies of all time.
[25:16] Bring it.
[25:18] Now, this is controversial off the top.
[25:19] I didn't think of that.
[25:20] Because...
[25:21] Misses the cup.
[25:22] Oh, Howie.
[25:23] I can't sit here and look at you looking at me saying you complete me.
[25:26] The greatest montage in a sports film ever put together is in... And he's up on the mountains.
[25:32] Yes, Chief.
[25:33] Struggle!
[25:34] No, I agree with that, but you're still wrong.
[25:37] On the Big Five, there is no fact checking.
[25:39] So we don't want any feedback.
[25:42] We've got anything wrong because we're not interested.
[25:44] Oh, my God.
[25:45] Chief's just seen it and I think he's... We're way off base.
[25:47] Come on, Chief, you can do it.
[25:49] Peace and love.
[25:51] That is, and I am so pumped about this, the Big Five with the Chief, my man Jason Dunstall in your Howie Games feed now.
[26:00] The Big Big Five.
[26:04] Let's get back to Josh where our man has just gone pick number six in the NBA draft.
[26:10] So we started at $60,000 at Adelaide.
[26:13] Is it like the AFL where you get banded a salary and where you get picked?
[26:16] So is it top five or top ten?
[26:18] No.
[26:18] So it's first to 30 is like first in my draft was I think I want to say $10 million and then it goes down the line.
[26:25] So where do you start?
[26:26] So I was at pick six.
[26:27] I was at 5.8.
[26:29] It went 5.8, 6.278 or something like that.
[26:33] Million a year.
[26:33] Yeah.
[26:34] So which is just obviously I say it lightly now but, yeah, to go from $60,000 to that was –
[26:39] Well, what is that?
[26:40] Yeah, it's a lot.
[26:42] Yeah, it's a lot.
[26:43] Well, thanks for that.
[26:45] Yeah, it's obviously life-changing money, and I knew that coming into the draft that that was what it was going to be.
[26:49] But, you know, it didn't really sink in probably until later when I first got my check because I couldn't get paid for probably three months after the draft because of the social security, and I had to leave the country to get all this stuff, and it was during COVID, so a lot of loopholes.
[27:02] But, yeah, obviously the money that we're fortunate enough to make in the NBA is a lot, and...
[27:09] But don't – this is a pet peeve of mine.
[27:13] Don't shy away from it.
[27:14] You have worked and you have left your family and you are in an entertainment business that is making billions of dollars.
[27:22] You put on the show.
[27:23] You deserve that.
[27:23] I don't – like you're here in Australia and they're saying, oh, well, how come Naz is getting paid $2 million?
[27:28] But he deserves every cent of that because he's putting on the show.
[27:31] So in this spot with you and me, don't shy away from that, mate, because it's credit to you and your family and your organization.
[27:39] You walk into an NBA locker room for the first time, give me an idea of the environment, how you're feeling about it.
[27:47] This is serious stuff now.
[27:49] At only 18 years old, the world's just landed at Josh Giddey's size 14 feet.
[27:54] This is what I've been working for my whole life.
[27:55] So to live my dream of playing in the NBA and to have the support from my family and friends from back home, it means the world to me.
[28:01] Yeah, it was – well, the first time I did it, we – obviously, the draft was in New York.
[28:05] We stayed the night after the draft.
[28:06] We flew out to Oklahoma the next day, and we got to Oklahoma.
[28:09] We went straight to the facility and got, like, a tour of the facility, and it was – I was blown away.
[28:15] I've never been anything close to something like that.
[28:17] What blows you away?
[28:19] Just – I mean, everything.
[28:20] It's like everything's under one building.
[28:21] You've got courts.
[28:22] You've got state-of-the-art, like –
[28:25] weight room recovery centers like the training tables the the kitchen the offices everything's just unbelievable and um yeah when i first went in there i was i was shocked i'd never seen anything like that before and um they gave us a tour and i and i got to see and then obviously a couple days later i got my locker i was then i started working out of the facility so it all happened really quickly but yeah my first impression of it was just like state of the art like the whole thing and and oklahoma such an unbelievable organized organization where they um they took care of me and my family you know so well when we were there and um
[28:54] Yeah, that building and organization is unbelievable.
[28:57] So we get to debuts again.
[28:59] What have I written here?
[29:00] 29th of July drafted on the 8th of August.
[29:02] Giddy signed a contract.
[29:03] 20th of October 2021.
[29:05] Your NBA debut versus the Utah Jazz.
[29:10] The Adelaide 36ers and was the NBL Rookie of the Year.
[29:15] Baisley dumps it off Giddy.
[29:20] Drives, hangs, and hits.
[29:22] I'm not a massive basketball aficionado, but when I watch it, it's like, holy heck, these men are so big and so athletic.
[29:30] Yeah.
[29:30] So you step onto that court for the first time.
[29:32] You play 82 games a season.
[29:34] But on debut, mate, how is it?
[29:37] Is it...
[29:38] So you've gone to the NBL.
[29:41] Obviously, there's an enormous difference in talent, but how big a jump are we talking here?
[29:47] I think it's big in terms of size and athleticism.
[29:50] The talent in the NBL is like, I think can compete with anyone around the world.
[29:54] Obviously, the NBA is the most talented league in the world, but...
[29:58] And that was one of the reasons I decided to go the NBL route was to get that taste of playing against older, bigger, stronger guys when I was younger.
[30:04] And when I went to the NBA, it didn't catch me by surprise.
[30:06] I felt like I'd had a year of it under my belt.
[30:08] But the NBA is a step up, and the size and the strength of the guys was another step.
[30:14] But it took me a while to get adjusted.
[30:15] It felt like the pace of the game, I was so frantic.
[30:18] And these guys felt like I was so slow and playing under a different controlled pace to me.
[30:22] So it took me a while to get used to.
[30:23] But yeah, I remember my debut in Utah.
[30:26] We got...
[30:26] We got flogged, I remember that.
[30:28] And I didn't play great.
[30:30] I remember my agent and I had family there.
[30:32] So, you know, it was obviously a special day anytime you debut.
[30:34] And it was against Joe Ingalls, so I got to play against him in my debut.
[30:37] It was someone I looked up to growing up.
[30:38] So, yeah, it was obviously a fun experience, one I'll never forget.
[30:41] But, yeah, I think the game slowed down for me probably.
[30:45] It took me a while to get used to it.
[30:47] Shortish sharp responses because we're under time duress.
[30:51] But you talked about the grind.
[30:52] So 82 games to me, criss-crossing the country, that blows my mind.
[30:56] Like we talk about here in the footy, I know Collingwood's got to come off a five-day break, which you're just laughing at.
[31:02] So some specific areas.
[31:03] Yeah.
[31:06] Diet.
[31:06] Yep.
[31:07] Is it all provided for you?
[31:08] How do you approach diet?
[31:09] Yeah, it is and it's not because breakfast, say we're at home, right?
[31:15] On game day.
[31:16] Yeah, on game day in Chicago.
[31:17] I usually come in, I eat breakfast at the facility, work out, or we have a shoot around.
[31:21] I'll get recovery after.
[31:22] Then lunch is at the facility so I can get lunch there.
[31:25] After the games, we have food.
[31:26] So we place orders with our chefs before the game.
[31:28] So they're chefs.
[31:29] Yeah, the chefs.
[31:29] And then after the game, they'll have the food waiting for us.
[31:31] But if it's not a game day or if it's like an off day, a lot of times like dinner, lunch, guys are on their own.
[31:38] So a lot of guys have chefs and have nutritionists and things like that.
[31:40] So they're pretty well taken care of.
[31:41] But Philip, I'd say 90% of the time, our food and stuff is all taken care of.
[31:46] Travel.
[31:47] So you finish, what time's the game finished typically at night?
[31:49] If we start at seven, probably done at 9.30.
[31:52] So you finish at 9.30.
[31:53] If you've got an away game, do you play the next night on an away game?
[31:57] Yeah, yeah.
[31:57] We can play the next night.
[31:58] So when do you travel?
[31:58] Yeah.
[31:59] We fly, so we'll probably leave the arena at 10.30, go straight to the plane and fly to the next city.
[32:03] That night?
[32:04] Oh, yeah.
[32:04] That night?
[32:05] Yeah.
[32:05] Okay.
[32:06] So tell me about the plane.
[32:07] You're not jumping onto United and flying in economy.
[32:09] No, we're not.
[32:10] We're flying, we charter everything, so we fly in these big, like,
[32:14] They're massive planes and they're, I don't know if they're, I actually don't know if they're custom made, the planes, because when we go up the plane, all the players turn left.
[32:21] So we all sit at the front end of the plane.
[32:23] It's the only thing when you turn the plane, you want to turn left.
[32:25] Turn right, you're right.
[32:26] You want to go right.
[32:27] I know, I hear.
[32:28] And all the staff and coaches and stuff go right.
[32:30] So we have like a table down our end of the plane and the seats are all like reclined, lay flat seats.
[32:35] So yeah, it's not like a commercial plane or anything like that, but.
[32:38] So like is there message – like is there recovery available on the plane?
[32:42] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[32:42] There's recovery.
[32:43] Well, a lot of guys will do it at the arena after the game because we don't have to leave straight away.
[32:47] Guys will stay there for an hour, 90 minutes, get in recovery.
[32:49] And then when we get on the plane, all our physios and medical staff will have a ton of stuff with them.
[32:54] So if guys want to do recovery on the plane, there's like room to do that.
[32:56] So, yeah, guys will do it on the plane or at the arena, wherever they go.
[32:59] So what time can you be getting to your next hotel?
[33:02] Oh, late.
[33:03] Like, late.
[33:03] If we say we play – we're on a back-to-back, and we say we're playing Saturday night at 7 p.m. in – let's just say it's Dallas, right?
[33:10] Yep.
[33:11] And we finish the game at 9.30.
[33:12] We leave.
[33:13] We get to the plane by 11.30, and we're flying to –
[33:16] We did it.
[33:16] I think we flew to Orlando.
[33:17] We landed at four in the morning.
[33:19] Wow.
[33:20] And we go straight to the hotel.
[33:21] You lose an hour.
[33:23] We play at seven that night.
[33:24] So usually we sleep till whenever, 11 o'clock, we'll have a team meeting at 12, walk through our stuff, and we play that night at seven.
[33:30] As soon as that game's done, and we're saying we're going back to Chicago, we'll fly all the way back to Chicago.
[33:34] So...
[33:35] It's a lot of traveling and a lot of late nights, but the good thing is we don't practice as much just because of the traveling.
[33:41] In season.
[33:42] So, yeah, that's kind of the trade-off.
[33:44] But, yeah, a lot of guys prefer to play than practice.
[33:47] But, yeah, that's kind of the trade-off.
[33:49] It's giving us a great idea.
[33:50] So sort of two-part question.
[33:52] Luke Longley came on this show.
[33:54] eight years ago, obviously Chicago, and he was talking about checking into hotels and he was using pseudonyms.
[34:01] So one of the pseudonyms he used was Bruce Dool because he was a cartman.
[34:04] Norman Gunston, who was a famous Australian comedian.
[34:07] So we used to have to use aliases in the hotel room.
[34:10] I was Norman Gunston for a whole year.
[34:12] Piss off!
[34:12] No, I was.
[34:14] No Americans are walking up and saying, put me through to Norman Gunston, please.
[34:20] and he was talking about crowds.
[34:22] Now, that was Jordan and the Bulls era.
[34:24] I get that.
[34:25] But, like, are you checking in under your own name in the hotel?
[34:28] Yeah, I do.
[34:29] Some guys don't.
[34:30] We had a guy who's checking in as Peter Parker.
[34:32] So we had a lot of guys.
[34:33] That's Spider-Man, isn't it?
[34:34] Yeah, yeah, we'd change names.
[34:35] I check in.
[34:35] I never knew you couldn't do that.
[34:37] Like, you could change your name.
[34:38] And he was checking in as Bruce Dahl.
[34:39] So it's all right for the big fella.
[34:41] I'm seeing P. Parker, and I'm like, we don't have one of them on our team.
[34:43] And finally, I figured out who it was.
[34:45] But, um...
[34:46] Yeah, but there's crowds and people are waiting at the hotels.
[34:47] There is, there is.
[34:48] All types of hours of the night, because a lot of them are like autographed people and they want things signed and photos and jerseys and things like that.
[34:55] So they know where we, because a lot of teams stay in the same hotels in each city.
[34:58] So they know what time we're getting in.
[34:59] I don't know how they know.
[35:00] They must get tipped off somehow.
[35:02] I don't know how they know, but yeah, they're waiting there 4 a.m., 6 p.m., it doesn't matter.
[35:06] They'll be at the front of the hotel.
[35:08] So you were going well at OKC, right?
[35:11] He is a big physical 6'8", and I think that that allows him
[35:16] to make plays like this, where he can just drive to the rim, even with a big body like Len on him, and have no problem laying it up in it.
[35:23] As Giddey, been in attack mode all night, and once again, uses the glass.
[35:27] Nice move.
[35:27] He's got 20 on the Minnesota.
[35:29] Giddey goes with the right hand, turns the corner, and banks it home.
[35:32] How about this here?
[35:33] Josh Giddey, bounce pass in traffic.
[35:36] Oh, Giddey right to the cup and scores.
[35:38] Nice drive.
[35:40] And then, well, you can tell us in your words, the way I read it, you were moved on.
[35:44] Can I get you to read this?
[35:45] Because I thought to myself, wow, he's on the up.
[35:47] The team's on the up.
[35:49] He's moved on.
[35:49] You'd be a bit flat about this.
[35:51] But this is what you put on Instagram.
[35:53] Better you read it than I read it because I thought it showed the class of a young man, which was you.
[35:58] So if you wouldn't mind, so we'll explain why you got moved on, but this is how you responded to it.
[36:02] Yeah.
[36:03] OKC, thank you for everything.
[36:05] To the city for embracing me from day one.
[36:07] To Mr. Bennett, who's the owner of the team.
[36:09] Sam, who's the GM.
[36:10] And Mark, who's our head coach, for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of being an NBA player.
[36:14] I'm forever grateful.
[36:16] My brothers, who I got to share the floor with for three years, the best group of guys I could have imagined, stuck with me through the very high highs and the very low lows.
[36:22] You guys know the real me.
[36:23] I'm forever in debt to Oklahoma and no words will do justice to how much the city and the organization mean to me and my family.
[36:30] So that's...
[36:32] That's credit to you, but I'm a parent.
[36:34] I also want to say that's credit to your parents.
[36:36] They've brought up a young man to take one like that on the chin and respond like that.
[36:42] I thought that was outstanding and it shows your character.
[36:44] But we talked about the ruthlessness of the sport.
[36:48] Again, I don't understand the sport at a high level, but you're at a team.
[36:51] It's up and coming.
[36:53] Then you're not at the team.
[36:54] How's the message delivered?
[36:55] How do you take it?
[36:57] Yeah, so it probably started, obviously, I'd started every game.
[37:01] I've started every game my entire NBA basketball career.
[37:04] And when I got to Oklahoma, I started, started, and we got to the playoffs in my third year, and we were in the best of seven series.
[37:11] We're in the second round.
[37:12] We're playing Dallas.
[37:13] Game five, Western Conference semifinals were underway.
[37:16] Dallas controls the tip.
[37:18] It's 2-2 and we're going back to Dallas for game five.
[37:22] We're in Oklahoma, sorry, for game five.
[37:24] Coach came to me before the game and I kind of had an inkling this was going to happen.
[37:27] And he asked me, or he didn't ask, told me that I'd be going to the bench just to try to change it up and do something different.
[37:34] So not starting the game.
[37:34] Yeah, not starting the game, which was...
[37:36] completely foreign to me.
[37:37] I'd never done that.
[37:38] And, um, and it was, it wasn't a shock to me, but it was like, it's hard to hear that, you know, it's hard to hear that.
[37:43] And I went to the bed, I didn't play a whole lot of minutes and I wasn't playing a lot of minutes in the series.
[37:46] Even when I was starting, just, I wasn't playing well.
[37:48] And my confidence was just at an all time low major bounce back by the Dallas Mavericks.
[37:54] They defeat the Thunder in OKC to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
[38:00] And then as the season, we lost that series.
[38:01] The season was over.
[38:02] We had exit interviews.
[38:03] I went back to Oklahoma, met with Mark and Sam, spoke about the season, just kind of went over everything.
[38:08] And then a couple weeks went by, and I was just thinking, like, is this the place?
[38:13] And I absolutely loved Oklahoma.
[38:14] Everything about it.
[38:15] That's evident by what you wrote.
[38:16] And I was just thinking about it.
[38:17] Like I was 20 or 21 at the time.
[38:20] And I'm like, I don't want to take steps backward in my career at this age.
[38:22] And it was nothing against the organization or my teammates.
[38:25] I love them.
[38:26] And I brought the idea up to Sam.
[38:27] I said like, and we started talking about it.
[38:29] And obviously my agent handled all that.
[38:30] But me and Sam spoke a lot.
[38:32] And he was very transparent through the whole situation about like finding me somewhere where I could, you know,
[38:38] propel my career in the right direction.
[38:40] And he got me to an unbelievable place in Chicago where I was able to do that.
[38:43] And general managers, he could send me wherever he wanted.
[38:47] He didn't have to do that for me and look out for me the way he did.
[38:49] And that just speaks to volumes about them.
[38:53] And it was tough because, as you said, we were a team that went from the worst record in the league to the best in two years.
[38:58] Like we were on an unbelievable trajectory.
[39:01] unfortunately in these things like I just I just kind of got squeezed out and um players emerged and players got better in our team and um they're just the role for me that I had early on just wasn't there anymore so uh it was just best for both sides to move on they got the trade was a pretty even trade in my opinion they got Alex Caruso helped them win a championship so yeah it was tough leaving because Oklahoma was all I ever known in the states but um but yeah Chicago where I've been has been unbelievable and I absolutely love it there what is the NBA like when in your words you're down on confidence and you're not playing well
[39:29] Well, I think the toughest part is the media.
[39:34] You see it everywhere, and when you're not playing well, especially...
[39:37] So you can't escape it?
[39:37] No, you can't escape it.
[39:38] And players are lying to you when they say they don't see it.
[39:42] We all see it.
[39:43] We all talk about it on flights and in hotels and locker rooms.
[39:46] We all read everything on Twitter that people say and Instagram, and it can be such a cruel world because...
[39:52] You know, like everything's going great.
[39:54] And I'm not going to say cruel because some of it's warranted.
[39:56] Like some players, they get paid a lot of money to perform.
[39:58] And when you don't, that's what comes with it.
[40:00] So, but, um, I think you can get caught up in the highs.
[40:04] Like when you're playing well, everyone loves you.
[40:05] You're the greatest thing.
[40:06] And then when you're not playing well, it can be the complete opposite.
[40:08] And you constantly like fluctuating in these emotions.
[40:11] And I went through that early on.
[40:12] Like I was playing so well and, um, I was getting so much praise and then I went through a slump and it was the complete opposite.
[40:17] So I've been through it.
[40:18] I know how it is.
[40:19] And, um.
[40:20] Yeah, the media over there is like, and I speak to the AFL boys about it here and they think it's tough, but the NBA is just on a complete another level.
[40:27] It's global.
[40:28] Like it's media from all the different countries that are coming after players.
[40:31] So yeah, that was the toughest thing I dealt with.
[40:33] And yeah, I'd say the media is definitely, it can be great for players and it can be awesome, but there's also times where it can be negative and can, you know, impact players.
[40:44] That is the end of Josh Giddy Part A.
[40:46] Join us for Part B where Josh heads to Chicago and we run through that all-time buzzer beater in beautiful detail.

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