Josh Giddey’s ‘unreal’ NBA debut season continues despite loss

19-year-old Aussie Josh Giddey has shown he is well and truly at home in the NBA as he continues to put his name up in lights to start his career.

Josh Giddey is on fire. Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Australian basketball has a new poster child as Josh Giddey keeps making waves in the NBA.

Playing for one of the NBA’s worst teams currently, Giddey has lit up for the Oklahoma City Thunder and already drawn rookie of the year chatter.

Although the Thunder have just the one win in 2021 — a victory over the LA Lakers earlier in the week — and were trounced 103-82 by the Golden State Warriors on Sunday (Australian time), Giddey has continued to impress.

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The 19-year-old hit 10 points along with four rebounds and six assists as well as a steal and a block.

Through six games, Giddey averages 10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists, while shooting at 45 per cent from the field and 33.3 per cent from outside the arc.

Although his output against Golden State was one of his less impressive stat lines, Giddey has won over plenty of new fans.

The young Aussie's deadly floater is one of the big weapons he has while his basketball intelligence has been there for all to see.

Despite the thumping loss, Giddey received plenty of praise.

I did not bet enough on Josh Giddey for Rookie of the Year.pic.twitter.com/6tMNsoCx0Z

— TonyDunstTV (@tonydunsttv) October 31, 2021

You can’t teach a lot of the stuff Giddey does

— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) October 31, 2021

Josh Giddey processes and anticipates at an unreal rate for a 19 year old.

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) October 31, 2021

TONS of positives for Josh Giddey so far.

One major negative has been free throw shooting -- luckily a pretty fixable skill.

— Derek Parker (@DParkOK) October 31, 2021

Third year NBA player Ty Jerome was full of praise for Giddey as well.

“I love how aggressive he’s been. Even if he takes a few floaters that’s not there … Super confident and it’s been great to see,” he said.

The kid’s got game. Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images

But while Rookie Wire analyst Cody Taylor predicted that Giddey would record at least five triple-doubles this season, Aussie Boomers great Matthew Dellavedova told The Age that the 19-year-old would have to develop his game further to stay effective.

“It’s really exciting that he’s started this well and obviously that they’re going to be scouting him harder and finding out what his tendencies are – that there’s going to be a challenge for him,” Dellavedova said.

“There’s going to be ups and downs over the course of the season. He’s a smart kid and very mature, so he’s going to keep it pretty level. It’s going to be fun to see what he does for the rest of the season.”

Six games in, everything is looking pretty rosy for Giddey and a long career.

Originally published as Josh Giddey’s ‘unreal’ NBA debut season continues despite loss