LOS ANGELES — Josh Giddey isn’t chasing it as much as it’s finding him.
Call it the benefits of being a 6-7, pass-first point guard who has always held an affinity for rebounding.
After once again filling up the box score during the Bulls’ loss Friday to the Clippers, Giddey found himself in rare air — as in Michael Jordan.
A 20-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist stat line marked Giddey’s 29th career triple-double, passing Jordan for 19th on the NBA’s all-time list. It was Giddey’s 11th of the season, tying him for second in the league with Nikola Jokic (26) and Jalen Johnson (11).
It’s surreal for Giddey.
“I had no idea until [Bulls senior manager of basketball communications Josh Schur] just told me,” Giddey said of passing Jordan. “Anytime your name is mentioned with people like that, obviously it’s the upper, upper echelon of players, so it’s pretty special and surreal. But I guess the game has changed and triple-doubles might not be what they are today, but anytime your name is mentioned with greats like that, it’s always an honor and I don’t take it for granted.”
Especially with Celtics legend John Havlicek (31) next on the list and 15 games left this season. Considering Giddey is averaging a triple-double this month (19.5 points, 11.8 assists, 11.2 rebounds in six games), that’s very doable.
“I’m a big guard, so I’ve always loved rebounding,” Giddey said. “That’s been the easy part for me. And I’m a pass-first point guard, so my job is to get guys shots. When they’re going, the assist numbers go up. That’s just who I am as a player. I love rebounding, I love passing the ball, so those two things go hand-in-hand.
“I’m not trying to put up triple-doubles or anything like that. They just kind of naturally happen, as long as I’m rebounding, kicking the ball ahead to get guys looks.”
That’s all well and good, but Giddey would trade those gaudy numbers for wins. Those have been few and far between since the trade deadline Feb. 5, when the Bulls welcomed seven new players and proceeded to go 0-11 for the month.
Such a purge would force most players to lower their expectations. Giddey continued to battle, though by the middle of the skid, the losing was clearly wearing on him, and he was visibly frustrated after one home loss.
“The expectation to win is always there, I guess,” he said. “When you’re going through an 11-game losing streak, the frustration levels probably elevate. A loss [to the Clippers on Friday] is just as frustrating as any other loss we had all year. So as I said, it’s been challenging trying to adapt seven new guys into a team midseason, but we’re not going to keep using that as an excuse of why we can’t win games, why we can’t close out games and why we can’t do the little things to win games.
“I believe in this locker room that we have the personnel to be competitive and win games, but it’s got to be a full 15, 18, however many guys we have, effort. Offensively, our schemes are good, and when we execute them, we’re good. But just the little controllable stuff is where we’re lapsing. This has been a difficult stretch in terms of wins and losses, but I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
At least Giddey sure is.
