Josh Giddey wasn’t angry. He wasn’t defensive. He was brutally honest — in a way that should send a shockwave through every corner of the Chicago Bulls organization. After a 6–1 dream start turned into a 9–14 freefall, the 23-year-old franchise point guard admitted the entire league has figured out how to beat Chicago. And then he said the four words no star wants to say during a crisis: “That’s on me too.”
The Bulls’ slide has been ugly, dramatic, and painfully predictable. One of the NBA’s brightest opening stories has hardened into a narrative of late-game collapses, broken defensive possessions, and a team that suddenly cannot finish anything close to the rim. For Giddey — who just locked in a $100 million deal and is playing at near–All-Star level — the responsibility for that collapse is personal. And he didn’t hide from it.
“The memo on us is out,” Giddey said flatly. “Crash the boards. Get back in transition. That’s how you stop the Bulls.”
It was less an excuse than an indictment — a sign that the rest of the NBA has solved Chicago’s early-season formula. After a blistering 6–1 start powered by Giddey, Nikola Vucevic, and a breakout from rookie Matas Buzelis, the Bulls have gone 3–13 since, losing their defensive identity and any sense of late-game order.
Giddey admitted the same weakness is killing them again and again: fourth-quarter execution.
“Rebounding has killed us down the stretch,” he said. “Teams get desperate and send five guys, and we haven’t boxed out — myself included.” Those failures, he said, lead to dagger threes, putbacks, and momentum-breaking moments that Chicago never recovers from.
The injury list has been long — Isaac Okoro, Kevin Huerter, Jalen Smith, Tre Jones, and Ayo Dosunmu are all out or limited — but Giddey refused to use that as cover. “It’s not an excuse,” he said. “I believe we’ve got enough in this locker room to win games.”
What makes the collapse even more stunning is that Giddey is playing the best basketball of his career. Through 21 games, he’s averaging 20.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.9 assists — numbers that would put him at the edge of All-Star consideration in any season. But spectacular stats don’t matter when the team around you is drowning.
“We’ve lost a lot of games where we just haven’t executed on both sides of the ball,” he said. “And that’s a sour feeling because it’s in your control.”
Even as the losses pile up, Giddey insisted the team is more connected during the slump than they were during the hot start — a surprising admission, and maybe the only bright spot in Chicago’s bleak December. “It’s easy to splinter when you lose,” he said. “But credit to the group — we’ve stayed together.”
The Bulls have the lightest schedule in the league over the next ten days, a window Giddey called “much needed.” Chicago faces Charlotte and New Orleans next — winnable games if they can reclaim even a fraction of the discipline that fueled their opening run.
“One win,” Giddey repeated. “One win will put us in the right direction.”
For the Bulls, that’s the frightening truth: the season isn’t lost, but the margin has evaporated. Chicago has fallen from a top-of-the-East storyline to a team gasping for identity, stability, and confidence.
And Giddey’s message — raw, public, and loud — may be the last spark available before the season slips out of reach.
If the Bulls don’t respond now, this may be the moment we point back to as the night everything broke.
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