Josh Giddey equalled his career-high points haul, was one rebound shy of a triple-double in his postseason debut and had the NBA world singing his praises all while being under the legal drinking age in America.
Oh, and the Australian helped the Oklahoma City Thunder book a date with the Minnesota Timberwolves with the chance to advance into the playoffs after beating the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament.
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Giddey finished with a dazzling stat line of 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the Thunder’s 123-118 victory over the Pelicans, with 12 of those coming in Oklahoma City’s explosive third quarter.
The 20-year-old drained three three-pointers, made 11 shots from inside the arc and went six-from-seven at the charity stripe for a 85.7 per cent free throw rate.
Of course, Giddey was aided by Thunder teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who topscored with 32 points of his own as the 24-year-old continues to prove he’s destined for superstar status.
But it was the Aussie who collected plenty of praise from not just passionate Aussie hoops fans, as the US media and even former NBA stars waxed lyrical about his mature performance.
JJ Redick, a 15-year NBA veteran, wrote on Twitter: “Hey Josh Giddey is good.”
The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel described Giddey’s performance as “spectacular” and believed his ability to step up on the biggest stage bodes extremely well for the future.
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“At the ripe age of 20, Giddey is more than just a basketball matrix, more than just a six-foot-eight point guard who can more than meet all the skill demands of that position,” Tramel wrote.
“Giddey also is an iron-willed competitor who has been competing against older ballplayers for years and seems more than capable of standing up to the playoff heat.”
Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe from Fox Sports USA’s Undisputed were both in awe at what Giddey produced, with the former using a rather unique comparison to describe the Victorian.
“I’ve been watching him [Giddey] more and more this year,” Bayless said.
“He’s still 20 years. 20 years of age!
“It’s like when a record or song comes out, you listen to it the first time and you’re like, ‘Nah.’ Then you hear it again and you’re like, ‘Hmm, I don’t know.’
“Then the fourth time, you’re like, ‘Wait a second, I really like that.’ Then you can’t stop listening to it. That’s Josh Giddey. He is six feet, eight inches tall. He can just flat out play basketball.
Sharpe added: “You watch him up close and personal, you get a sense. OK, yeah, he’s really good. He can really play.”
Thunder beat writer and host of the Locked On Thunder Podcast Rylan Stiles believed it was a true coming-of-age performance from Giddey that never seemed far away.
“What Josh Giddey did was answer everyone’s question,” Stiles said on the podcast.
“All of his career has been people talking about can he play in the playoffs, he’s not particularly great defensively, he can’t score, he can’t shoot … here it is, folks: he just has that it factor.
“I know we don’t like that, we want to quantify everything. We want to tangibly look at something and see why it’s working.
“But the bottom line is, Josh Giddey has played grown men his entire life and has always stepped up when the lights get brightest. He did it again scoring 31 points, nailing three triples.”
If this was a game that demonstrated Giddey is something special, then you only need to look at a staggering statistic that emerged quickly after the final buzzer sounded.
The Australian’s 31-point haul catapulted him into rare air when it came to most points scored in a postseason game.
That puts Giddey ahead of NBA legends such as Allen Iverson (30 points in 1999), Kevin Durant (24 points in 2010) and even Michael Jordan (23 in 1985) to name just three.
There’s still plenty of time for Giddey to grow alongside his teammates, especially with Gilgeous-Alexander who, at the age of 24, is remarkably the oldest player on the team.
Chet Holmgren, who the Thunder selected with the second pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, will provide a major boost when he returns for next season after missing his rookie campaign due to a foot injury.
With those three running the show, there’s a lot to love about this Thunder squad and the seemingly limitless potential for the team.
But if the future seems as bright as the sun for the Oklahoma City faithful, a glance at the franchise’s draft picks in the coming years is sure to send shivers down the spines of opposition fans.
The Thunder will have a staggering fifteen first round draft picks in their possession for the next five NBA Drafts, with four picks in the 2024 and 2025 Drafts.
Not only that, but the franchise has $30 million to play with in cap space.
Given the work Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti has done in building this fresh-faced roster and his ability to hit big in the drafts, it’s a frightening prospect for the rest of the NBA.
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With fifteen picks to play with, Presti will have plenty of chances to add more young stars to a roster brimming with them as it is.
But, Bayless believes the Thunder could opt for a different approach.
Either way, it seems like a win-win for Oklahoma City.
“They’re the youngest team,” Bayliss said.
“All of a sudden, I’m looking at the near future and I’m saying, ‘Wait a second, Presti has 15 first-round picks in the next five drafts, what if he parlays those into at least one more All-Star, maybe two more All-Stars?’”
The addition of a superstar to the roster would no doubt aid the quality of the team and it’s unlikely they’d have to part with many players to appease the other team in a deal.
Who that player might be remains a mystery and that’s if Presti decides it is the approach he wishes to take with the excess of picks.
But it’s hard to see anything but good times on the horizon for the Thunder, with deeper playoff runs expected in the not-too-distant future.
And, for Aussie hoops fans, we’ll get to see one of our own leading the charge.