More than mates: Giddey and Daniels share NBA spotlight

• Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels have joined the ownership group of Courtside, a state-of-the-art new basketball facility in Melbourne
• Daniels has recently launched his owned streetwear brand, Vouseti
• Josh Giddey is looking to sign a new US$30m per year contract with the Chicago Bulls

From a wild “buzzer beater” for the Chicago Bulls to a defensive hustle the NBA has rarely seen before, Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels have skyrocketed to a level of fame not even the down-to-earth Aussies and best friends could have dreamt of.

Giddey, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, and Daniels (of the Atlanta Hawks) have courted attention on the world’s biggest basketball stage.

Speaking to Stellar from Beverly Hills, Melbourne-born Giddey – who is expected to earn a new mega contract this off-season – admits: “I would love to be unknown sometimes”.

“I am not complaining; there are definitely good things to come with it,” Giddey tells Code Sports and Stellar in an exclusive interview.

“But everything you do is magnified and you always have a spotlight on you following you around.

“I guess it comes with being an NBA player – there are definitely times where I’d like to be a regular guy and blend in.”

Read the full story at Code Sports Basketball here.

Daniels and Giddey – who are both 22 – have been friends for more than a decade; they met while playing junior basketball.

The pair share banter on Stellar’s set (Giddey calls Daniels his “little brother”) as they star in their first joint fashion shoot. Says Giddey, “We grew up playing against each other … [Dyson] was a Bendigo boy, from the country, and I was Melbourne, in the city, we crossed paths a lot.

“When we were 16, 17, we both moved to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. And then our paths have been aligned from juniors to the AIS to the NBA. We’re still very close.”

Adds Daniels: “We kind of went through every phase of life together. We’ve grown up together. I became really close with [Josh’s] family.”

Both Giddey and Daniels are known for their head-turning pre-game “tunnel fits”, a term used to describe the outfits NBA players wear on their arrival at a stadium.

With his own streetwear brand – Vouseti – Daniels describes his go-to pieces as “a bomber jacket … and some accessories”, “jorts” and a Louis Vuitton bag, while Giddey says his looks are “pretty casual”.

“A lot of it depends on where we’re playing. If we’re playing in a big city like New York or LA or Miami, the outfit is a bit wilder.

“If it’s a city that’s not as big … the outfit is a bit more relaxed. If it’s at home [in Chicago], I’ll decide maybe an hour before.

“But if we’re on the road, if we have a six- or seven-game trip, I pack outfits. I never wear the same [outfit] to a game. I plan a bit ahead. If it’s four days, I’ll take one [suitcase]. If it’s 10 days, I’ll probably take two and a duffel bag.”

Once they have styled their “tunnel fits”, Giddey and Daniels settle into their game day rituals.

As Giddey tells Stellar, “I don’t have a superstitious routine – I kind of just do whatever”.

“Say we have a game at 7pm. Usually, I’d wake up at about 8am, I’d go into the arena – if we’re playing in Chicago – around 9am, eat breakfast, get treatment.

“Then we’d have [a] ‘shoot around’ at 10am and I’d get home by about 11:15am … and then I’d have until about 4:30pm ish until I have to go to the arena.

“If I have friends in town, I’ll hang out with them – if not, I’ll play PlayStation or watch Netflix.”

Next month, the pair will unveil their joint venture CourtSide, a 10,000 square metre state-of-the-art basketball facility in Melbourne that will span four basketball courts, a gym, saunas, a recovery centre, and a retail precinct designed for from children playing at a grassroots level to professional athletes.

Daniels says “it’s second nature” for him and Giddey to work together, and he hopes the pair will spend more time training in Melbourne during the NBA off-season.

Explains Giddey: “What we’re trying to do is create an environment that anyone can be a part of, whether you’ve just started picking up a basketball or you’re a 35-year-old that’s been playing in the NBA for 15 years.”

This article originally appeared in Stellar, inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA). For more from Stellar, click here.