‘Tough pill’: Chicago Bulls’ Josh Giddey gets honest on OKC Thunder benching

Josh Giddey was the hero of the Chicago Bulls‘ 119-117 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. He made a critical steal of LeBron James in the final 10 seconds of the game before draining a half-court buzzer-beater.

Giddey had a humbling follow-up performance against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. He shot 25%, scoring just eight points. He added eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in Chicago’s 120-119 loss at the United Center.

Giddey is set to play his former team on Monday night at Paycom Center and should have plenty of motivation to play much better than he did against the Mavs. The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Giddey with the No. 6 pick in the 2021 draft.

Josh Giddey on Oklahoma City Thunder benching him

OKC benched Giddey during the final two games of their second-round series defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs last year. They traded him to the Bulls in the summer.

Per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, Giddey talked about his benching. He called the benching a “tough pill” but said he understood why the Thunder made the decision.

“No player wants to be in the position where you’re the one that’s getting adjusted to in the playoffs,” Giddey said. “That was a tough pill for me to swallow, but it was probably what I needed at that point of my career. It’s better to learn that lesson as you get deeper into your career.

“Looking back in hindsight, it was probably the best thing for me. Most of the time you feel like, ‘Oh, you don’t want to go through that. But … they made the right decision in what they did, in terms of the playoffs, that whole series, and matchup-wise they did it for the right reasons. I don’t ever look back in anger or whatever towards OKC. I had nothing but great things to say about OKC.”

How Giddey has played this season with the Chicago Bulls

Giddey had a slow start with the Bulls at the beginning of the season. He’s averaging 14.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game for Chicago. He’s been on fire since the trade deadline. Now there’s talk that Giddey and Coby White could become a $70 million duo in Chicago.

Monday night’s contest against the Thunder will be Giddey’s second against his former team with the Bulls. Giddey went 6-of-14 shooting and 2-of-6 from behind the arc to score 14 points in Chicago’s 114-95 loss to the OKC at the United Center on Oct. 26. He added seven rounds and four assists.

Giddey feels no bitterness towards OKC or head coach Mark Daigneault for how things transpired in the playoffs.

“They did the right thing, and Mark is an incredible coach and made adjustments accordingly,” Giddey said. “We were down in that series so we needed to come back, so I don’t look back at it like they did the wrong thing or they messed me up or anything like that. They made the right decision and I tried to be the best teammate I could for the rest of that series and help them win.”

Giddey now has a chance to make a statement on Monday night against OKC, who has the best record in the league at 62-12. Before Chicago’s loss to the Mavs, the Bulls were the league’s hottest team. A win over the Thunder would show they close they are to being contenders and how far Giddey has come since the trade.

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