Aside from the defending champions' talented roster, Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey knows that the Oklahoma City Thunder's chemistry is a testament to the players' chemistry in a small-market city. It makes a big difference for some teams. While Giddey addressed what strikes fear in the Bulls' opponents, he also talked about how important the bond between players off the court is.
For Giddey, it's another reason why Oklahoma City has such strong chemistry as a team, as the former Thunder guard alluded to its city helping in that regard, per The Young Man & The Three podcast.
“I think that’s one of the massive things about why they’re so good is because how close they are off the court. And I think one of the blessings is there’s nothing to do in Oklahoma,” Giddey said. “So the guys are like, we have to hang out with each other, and that’s what we did a lot. Obviously, they’re close and we spent a lot of time together, whether it was a locker room, planes, hotels, or whatever it is.”
Josh Giddey, who was traded to the Bulls for Alex Caruso before the 2024-25 season, says he's feeling the same kind of closeness among his new teammates in his second season in Chicago.
“I’m starting to see it now more so than ever. We do dinners all the time. We hang out together. We do things on the plane, hotel, wherever we are on the road,” Giddey added. “Like guys actually enjoy each other’s company. When you love the people you get to go to work with everyday, that’ makes a massive difference in how you play on the court.”
Averaging 21.4 points on 46.3% shooting, including 38.5% from deep, 9.6 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.0 steals, Giddey is having the best start of his career for the Bulls.
Mark Daigneault urges Thunder to keep the right ‘mindset'
Despite the Thunder's 12-1 start as defending champions, coach Mark Daigneault is urging his players to improve. Amid the first month of regular season, Daigneault knows it's too soon to stop getting better, as teams around the NBA continue to adapt, and find their mid-season stride.
“We’re a better team today than we were 13 games ago. The thing is we have the maturity to understand there’s 70 more games,” Daigneault said. “And the rest of the league is gonna continue to evolve and improve, and we have to do that to pace with the rest of the league. The guys have done a great job carrying that mindset for a long time.”
After a successful back-to-back against the Lakers and Warriors at the Paycom Center, the Thunder will face the Hornets on the road on Saturday.
