The tell was on his left wrist all night. Josh Giddey wore a wrap during the Bulls’ season opener in Toronto, shot 1-of-10 and scored two points in a 135-92 loss, and nobody outside the locker room knew why it was there. Afterward, asked about it, Giddey said he hurt the wrist in the first preseason game, had an MRI and would have to play through it. The medical staff, The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi reported, expects the Bulls to manage it “throughout the season.” The Josh Giddey wrist injury is the story under the box score, and it never appeared on an injury report.
Josh Giddey Wrist Injury: What He Said, and What We Know
Here’s the confirmed version. Giddey told reporters he injured his left wrist in the Bulls’ first preseason game, per Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson, who reported that he had an MRI and that it is something he’ll have to play through for a while. Asked whether it’s a tissue injury, he deferred to the medical staff. The results were encouraging enough that the team decided to monitor it rather than shut him down, according to Rotowire. By Thursday, the Bulls had listed him as probable for Friday’s game at Milwaukee with a sprained left wrist, per NBC Sports. And Chicago’s injury report for the opener? Seven players were on it. Giddey wasn’t one of them.
A Bad Night Looks Different Now
The line was ugly: two points on 1-of-10 shooting, 0-of-4 from three, 0-of-2 at the line, six assists and five turnovers in 24 minutes, in the worst season-opening loss in Bulls history, with 27 team turnovers. Giddey didn’t tie his struggles to the wrist himself, and I wouldn’t hang a 43-point loss on one either. But it’s worth noting what a left wrist does for a right-handed point guard. It’s his off hand, the one he uses to dribble left and finish with, and it’s half of the two-handed, over-the-head pass that has become his signature. That’s my read, not a medical one. It still makes a number of those turnovers harder to wave off as rust.
He’s Been Here Before, and That Cuts Both Ways
Giddey has played through wrist trouble. In April 2025, with a sprained right wrist that coach Billy Donovan called “a problem,” he went for 28 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists against Miami. The worry is the pattern around it. Last season he played 54 games, averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists, and missed the final five with a hamstring injury. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle in May, was only cleared for five-on-five in early September, and now has the wrist. For a player in the second year of a four-year, $100 million contract, availability is the biggest variable in what the Bulls are building.
The Question Nobody Was Asked
Heavy had a piece up three days earlier about Giddey’s confident message ahead of the season. He was already nursing the wrist by then. That’s not unusual, since players play through nagging injuries constantly. But there was nothing public in the preseason, nothing on the injury report, and nothing before an opener that turned into a record-setting disaster, until a reporter asked about a wrap.
The best-case is that this is a minor sprain and one terrible night. The worst case is that Chicago’s lead playmaker is working with one good wrist for months, with Tre Jones the obvious replacement if it flares. After a 43-point loss, the Bulls can’t afford to find out the hard way.
Josh Giddey Wrist Injury Was Hiding in Plain Sight on Opening Night