CLEVELAND — Bulls point guard Josh Giddey might be one of the more self-aware players in the NBA.
Then again, sitting with your own negative thoughts for 15 hours on a flight back to Australia — on top of finding out the plane’s Wi-Fi was down — leaves a lot of time to get introspective.
Giddey took advantage of every minute of it last May.
‘‘I’ll never forget going back on the plane to Australia [after the Thunder’s playoff elimination last season],’’ Giddey said. ‘‘First, I was ready to get out of there because it was obviously a long year for a number of reasons, but you’re just sitting there with your thoughts for 15 hours. And the Wi-Fi was down, so I couldn’t even pass time on my phone. I was just there thinking, and I remembered one of the Morris twins [Markieff] came up to me before I left and said, ‘You’re too good to let that happen to you.’
‘‘From that point on, my mind has been, ‘The next time I get to the postseason, what happened in that playoff series is never going to happen again.‘ ’’
Because what happened was flat-out humbling.
Luka Doncic and the Mavericks entered their Western Conference semifinal against the Thunder hunting down Giddey and his then-questionable defense on every possession. By Game 4, he was losing minutes. By Game 5, he had lost his starting job.
The Mavericks won the series 4-2, and Giddey was crushed.
Fast-forward to today. Giddey, now with the Bulls after being acquired in a trade for guard Alex Caruso last offseason, is on pace to finish as only the third player in Bulls history to average 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists over an entire season.
The other two? Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
That’s great company for Giddey to be in, but it really means nothing to him. He knows he will be judged on his next postseason series, and he’s thrilled to take that challenge head-on.
‘‘One hundred percent,’’ Giddey said when he was asked whether it was fair to judge him that way. ‘‘[The Mavericks series] was probably the experience I needed, you know? I’d much rather go through that at 21 years old than at 30 and be in the playoffs for the first time. It was one of the toughest lessons I ever learned, but it was also the right thing at that time. Maybe not the right thing, but what I needed.
‘‘Obviously, going through that, I’m going to be better for it. And when this team gets to that stage, playing those types of meaningful games, I’m ready to go.’’
Coach Billy Donovan thinks the same thing.
Ever since the Bulls traded guard Zach LaVine in early February, Donovan has been using Giddey on tougher defensive assignments. While the results have been mixed, there’s no question they continue to improve.
Donovan is hoping Giddey will get an opportunity to play in a playoff series in which the opposing team tries testing his defense again.
‘‘I don’t want to sit here and [say], ‘Oh, yeah, he’s got everything figured out,’ because it remains to be seen,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘But I do feel with the commitment he’s made on the defensive end of the floor, I feel confident that he is going to put forth a great effort, and I feel like he’s probably learned a lot from that Dallas series.’’
Giddey has, but he also knows the NBA is a ‘‘show me’’ league. That means whether it’s in a play-in game or whether the Bulls are fortunate enough to reach a postseason series, Giddey will be tested.
‘‘I can sit here and say it all I want, but I know I have to show it,’’ Giddey said. ‘‘Like I said, it’s not going to happen again.’’
