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Sport Nation
From Chicago to Frankston: How Giddey ended up playing local A-grade
Lachlan Geleit • May 6th, 2025 10:59 am
NBA star Josh Giddey is making sure to stay game-ready this off-season, turning out in a local basketball league in Frankston on Monday night.
Playing for Vales Basketball Club in the Monday Championship Men's competition in Frankston, Giddey put on a surprise show for the locals who couldn’t believe their eyes as he ran out on court five in Seaford.
Giddey played for the Vales simply because he wanted to take the court with a friend who quickly informed coach Ann Monaghan that he could be bringing a star recruit along with him on Monday night.
As they usually play with just one on the bench, Monaghan wasn’t all that keen on bringing another player into the fold… until she heard it was Australia’s best player heading their way.
“He did a great job, he just wanted a run with a great mate and his mate wanted him to fill in for us, and I said, ‘Yeah, no worries’,” Monaghan told SEN Breakfast.
“He actually rang me during the day to say, ‘Hey, my friend wants to come down’.
“I said, ‘Listen, we've got six, we don’t normally run with any more than that because the boys like to run it hard’.
“But he said, ‘It’s my mate Josh’. So I went, ‘Oh, look, okay, we’ll give him a run’.
“As it turned out, one of the other players had to pull out, so he got to run the game and it was great.
“We didn't even get to give the heads up to the guys that couldn't make it last night, but news moved pretty quickly.
“It was so good for local basketball and the fans, we weren’t even on court one last night, we were on court five.”
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With news of Giddey’s cameo spreading quickly, fans filled the back of the stadium to catch a glimpse of the Chicago Bulls star in action, with some referees and players from other games choosing to watch instead of starting their own matches.
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While Giddey did enough to lead the Bulls to 39 wins last season, he couldn’t get the Vales over the line against ‘Benny’s Boys’ who won 110-84.
Despite the defeat, Monaghan will reflect on Giddey’s appearance in Frankston as a brilliant night for local basketball.
“It was standing room only, there were refs and players from other teams that forgot to go to their games, they were all just standing there,” Monaghan said.
“He was fantastic. He got mobbed afterwards, but he just wanted a run with his mates.
“He's such a humble guy and he insisted that I tell the boys before the game.
“I was just going to let him rock up and tell them then, they would have been fine with it, but he said, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to intrude’.
“So I gave them a heads up and said, ‘Is it okay if we have an extra sub tonight?’, and they were fine. Then I said, ‘Do you wonder who it is?’, and they were like, ‘What?!’.
“We kind of went a bit light on it, we just stuck in second gear. When we realised that we probably should have been playing a bit more deep, it was a bit late, so they had a great game.
“He got a couple of great blocks, and as always he was assisting and very generous with his time.
“But we woke up this morning, and it was real.”
The 22-year-old now turns his attention to restricted free agency. The star guard could be set to earn north of $30 million (AUD) a year with his next NBA deal.
