Billy Donovan reflects on Josh Giddy’s buzzer beater a year later

ByNBAUSA



Almost a year has passed since then Josh Giddei hit the half court buzzer beater carry the Chicago Bulls to a victory over the LA Lakers. That moment still resonates as the Bulls play the Lakers for the first time since then.

Head coach Billy Donovan took a time out to think about during his pre-match press conference.

“It was definitely a wild twelve seconds,” Donovan said. “There were a lot of points scored in twelve seconds. I know the half-court shot is what everyone’s talking about, but I thought Josh did a great job in the game earlier and kind of hit a gap and created a steal, which allowed Patrick Williams to make a three-pointer. But I think in a long 82-game NBA season, you have some wild, crazy finishes, so to speak. That was as wild as it gets.”

At the same time, Donovan isn’t quite sure how that piqued Giddy’s interest.

“I don’t know what it did for Josh because they’re in the next game, there’s another game coming up, and obviously, you’re talking about something that happened in March. Certainly, I think both teams will remember that game.”

Meanwhile, Giddei is after a recent hamstring injury. He is currently on minute limits. Last Saturday, he played 24 minutes and scored four points as the Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 114-111. He also had 10 assists and eight rebounds. Giddy is averaging 18.8 points, 8.9 assists and 8.8 rebounds per game.

The shot that helped put Josh Giddei on the map

Arguably, this was what made Giddeia a staple on the Bulls. Furthermore, it happened in context that he had a decent second half of the season.

After the All-Star break, Giddy averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game. During the summer, Giddy’s efforts were awarded with a four-year, $100 million contract.

Basically, that one shot, along with everything else, gave the Bulls reason to trust him.





2026-01-27 00:33:00

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