Josh Giddey Joins LeBron, LaMelo In NBA Record Books
Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been quietly buckling down to work, and his accomplishments this 2021-22 NBA season are getting noticed.
The 19-year-old Australian has joined a special group to reach 100 assists and 100 rebounds in just 20 games.
He is officially the third player in NBA history to accomplish the feat behind LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets, Brandon Rahbar of the Daily Thunder reported.
Other notable NBA names on this list include Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Chris Paul and Lonzo Ball.
Curiously, pundits never paid much attention to Giddey when he was drafted No. 6 in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Scouting reports pointed out his weaknesses–ball handling, shot creation, outside shooting, on-ball defense and athleticism.
It appears scouts may have overlooked his other facets. His performance in the NBL rebuffs such reports with Giddey averaging 11.3 points, 7.7 assists and 7.3 rebounds on 43% shooting against grown men.
Giddey’s latest achievement come not long after he set another NBA record where he became the second-youngest player to score double-digit points, rebounds and assists.
As explained in a previous post here on IBTimes, it may only be a matter of time before Giddey takes it up a notch and start producing triple-doubles in the years to come.
“Josh is one of those kids, give him three to four years, he could be a potential All-Star. The only thing that may be holding him back is that OKC is much of a smaller market. There are not really many superstars there, and most teams these days need more than one or two superstars to elevate and make the team a household name,” Australian sports pundit Mark Brandon was quoted saying when he weighed in on Giddey on the Sports For All PH podcast.
The setting for the 2021 NBL Rookie of the Year is perfect, aligning him with other talented young players such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.
He has already been referred to as the “Gen-Z John Stockton,” and things can only get better for him.
Photo: Getty Images | Kevin C. Cox
