{"id":877372,"date":"2026-09-02T11:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877372\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T11:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:38:11","slug":"exclusive-josh-giddey-talks-ankle-injury-caleb-wilson-lebron-new-shoe-line-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877372\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Josh Giddey talks ankle injury, Caleb Wilson, LeBron, new shoe line and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s clear that Josh Giddey is the face of the Chicago Bulls franchise.<\/p>\n

The do-it-all playmaker is coming off of a career-best season in which he averaged 17.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game. The 23-year-old guard turned in that season after signing a four-year, $100 million contract with the Bulls.<\/p>\n

\"\"OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA \u2013 MARCH 27: Josh Giddey #3 of the Chicago Bulls drives to the basket around Jalen Williams #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half at Paycom Center on March 27, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by William Purnell\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As he prepares for his third season in Chicago and his sixth in the NBA, Giddey took the time to talk with Casino.org about a range of topics, including offseason surgery, rookie Caleb Wilson, first-year Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter, if he wants to average a triple-double over the course of a season, LeBron James and his new sneaker release.<\/p>\n

Post-surgery status report\u00a0<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cYeah, I feel good. My first surgery, and it\u2019s obviously a challenging time whenever you\u2019re injured. But to go through a surgery, then have to rehab can be tough. I was lucky enough I had great people around me who made the rehab process easy. Surgery went well, so good time to do it. You\u2019d rather do it in the offseason than during the season. But yeah, I\u2019m back to playing, back healthy. I feel good. My ankle feels strong, and I\u2019ve done a ton of work on it. I\u2019m feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Restrictions to start out of camp?<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cNo, I\u2019m back playing five-on-five. I played my first five-on-five stuff (last) week. I feel good, no restrictions, and I\u2019ll be good to go when camp comes around.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the first surgery of his NBA career and rallying support from fellow players<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cI went through it (myself). Obviously those guys had major surgeries where they\u2019re out 12 months, but mine was nothing compared to that. So no, I didn\u2019t reach out to anyone. There\u2019s been guys in Australia that had gone through the same surgery that I had, so they were guys I spoke to. But yeah, as I said, it wasn\u2019t a huge surgery, so I kind of just went through it, got into the rehab, and I\u2019m on the back-end of it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giddey\u2019s thoughts on the Caleb Wilson addition<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cYeah, I have. We were together in Miami last week, actually, so we got a chance to play together and get up and down, start working on things we need to as a team with different guys and integrating them into the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of change, but he\u2019s obviously going to be a really important piece to what we\u2019re doing here. Very high draft pick, so there\u2019s going to be a lot of pressure and noise around him. But he\u2019s a good kid. He\u2019s going to fit in with this group, and I\u2019m excited to see how he helps us this year and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s secret sauce and what makes him a great player<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cI think the thing about him is he doesn\u2019t have one part of his game. He can kind of do everything, and he obviously showed the way he can shoot the ball at summer league, and he can get downhill. He\u2019s athletic, so there\u2019s no real holes in his game, so to speak. He\u2019s obviously young, and he\u2019ll polish a lot of his game up as he gets older and matures.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think being able to guard multiple positions, he can rebound, he can run the floor. He doesn\u2019t have a lot of weaknesses in his game, and as I said, he\u2019s a young guy in the league. There\u2019ll be learning curves for him, but he comes in with a pretty well-rounded game and someone that can impact the floor at a high level on both ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thoughts on averaging a triple-double during an entire season<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cYeah, it has. I think that stuff, you accumulate the stats naturally, and I\u2019ve never been one to kind of go out there and hunt for them. I think they just come as a byproduct of the way I play. And as a bigger guy, I\u2019ve always loved rebounding the ball, and that kind of stems into the pass. When I get it in transition, I can kick the ball ahead and get guys easy looks. It all ties together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo answer your question, yeah, it\u2019d be great to average that. But I think the stats and those things just accumulate naturally with the way that I play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giddey shared thoughts on his new signature sneaker line<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cI was very fortunate to get a signature line with PUMA<\/a>, and done one already, which was centered around a flower that was Australian, and then the second one, the idea of the first two shoes was kind of tied in back to Australia and back home for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the second one, we chose the Great Barrier Reef as one of the natural wonders of the world, and that\u2019s why the name of the shoe is Wonder. Obviously, we use the blue and the purple from the corals. There are different parts of the shoe that resemble home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd on the outer soles, the bubbles kind of represent being underwater. Hence the Great Barrier Reef. There\u2019s a lot of little subtle details in the shoe that tie back to Australia. But yeah, the overarching theme of the shoe was the Great Barrier Reef, and I\u2019m really excited with how it turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giddey\u2019s early impressions of Coach Tiago Splitter<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cYeah, he\u2019s been great. He\u2019s been really good, and I think as a guy that\u2019s a former player in the NBA, he understands it, and he obviously did a great job with Portland last year. I\u2019m super excited. I\u2019ve had a lot of conversations with him. Obviously, he was in Portland last year, so I didn\u2019t know him a lot, but since he\u2019s been in Chicago, I\u2019ve gotten to know him and spend time with him and talk with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything he\u2019s about kind of aligns with how we want to play and go about things. He\u2019s been great, and the conversations I\u2019ve had with him have been great. I\u2019m super excited to play for him and ramp things up as we get closer to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Splitter\u2019s notable character traits<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cI think as a former player at the highest level, he understands us and he\u2019s able to relate on that more personal level than maybe a guy that hasn\u2019t played in the NBA or hasn\u2019t done the things that he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can see the game from a player\u2019s perspective as someone who\u2019s played it for a long time. So it\u2019s probably the best thing about him. And a very high IQ guy. You can tell just talking basketball with him. He knows the game really well. I\u2019m excited to play for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initial reaction to LeBron going to the Sixers<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cYeah, honestly, I didn\u2019t pick Philly for the team that he would go to. I didn\u2019t think a lot about it, but yeah, obviously it was his choice to make, and I think any team would have been happy to have him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players to ever play, so he adds a lot to any team. And yeah, I think Philly\u2019s obviously \u2014 especially getting him and Jaylen Brown \u2014 going to be a very good team. But no, to answer your question, I didn\u2019t think that\u2019s where he was going to end up. But kudos to him. He picked it, and they\u2019re going to be a pretty good team.\u201d<\/p>\n

On going up against LeBron in the Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

Giddey: \u201cOh yeah, can\u2019t wait. The Eastern Conference is loaded with talent. Obviously, Giannis going to Miami and him going to Philly. Yeah, those teams only get stronger, and I think a lot of teams in the East are starting to load up. It\u2019s going to be a good conference. It\u2019s going to be fun to play against these tough teams, and that makes you better as a player and as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n