Sister Of OKC Thunder Player Josh Giddey Making A Name For Herself On The D2 Basketball Stage

A phenomenal season ends in the Division II Sweet 16 for the Southern Nazarene women, who finished with a record of 30-3.

One of the Crimson Storm stars has a very familiar name here in OKC and in basketball, perhaps most well-known in Australia.

Basketball is the sport that ties the two Australian-born siblings halfway across the world from home here to Oklahoma.

One is a star on the global stage; the younger brother Josh Giddey. Quietly, his older sister Hannah has dominated the Division II game at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma. Her game is a little different than her brothers.

"I love to play defense, blocking shots is probably one of my best attributes as a player," said Hannah Giddey, senior guard for Southern Nazarene and older sister of Thunder player Josh Giddey. "I also love to post up finish around the basket."

Even with a busy OKC Thunder schedule, Josh gets out to as many games as possible.

"I didn't really watch a lot of games when she was younger but as she's got older, I love watching her play and I go as much as I can and she's been awesome for that team," said Josh Giddey.

In their younger days, Josh and Hannah didn't always see eye-to-eye.

"We were arguing all of the time, we were fighting, I was crying, he was crying. But it was really fun growing up with all of them," Hannah said. "We all got along.. eventually in those times where we were liking each other."

Their dad Warrick Giddey can remember those days well.

"There was some hard moments in the backyard with our kids," said their father Warrick Giddey. "As I said, Josh was a little bit more skilled with handles and a little bit bigger, so that was the battle of the skill and kind of trying to beat him up."

Now years later, the two are as close as they've ever been.

"As we got older we started to become closer and closer. Obviously, as kids, we grew up fighting and didn't really want anything to do with each other. But as she started to get older, I got older. We became closer," Josh said.

Hannah is one year older than Josh and made the journey from Melbourne to America on her own, a year before her brother, to begin her basketball career at Oral Roberts in Tulsa.

While at ORU, Josh began to appear on the draft boards of lottery teams in the NBA and the story of her little brother coming to Oklahoma, is one she'll never forget.

"I remember him having a workout with OKC and him coming back from that workout going, 'I think they're going to draft me' and we were like, 'At (pick) 6 or 17? And we were like, 'We don't think he's going to stick around for 17.' But we don't think he's going to get picked that early at 6. And he didn't really think that either. We were like, that'd be awesome because I (Hannah) was there and then draft night comes. And we were sitting around the table. And you know, pick 6 came in and I was super excited. And mom was like, 'Don't be upset if he doesn't get drafted to you know, Oklahoma.'," Hannah explained.

Then, it was announced.

"There's no cameras on our table and usually cameras start to come to the tables if it's gonna be you," Hannah said. "And I was thinking I was like, 'Hey, yeah, he's not getting drafted to Oklahoma.' And then like 10 seconds hits and like two camera guys just flood to our table. And you know, they announced it and they said Josh Giddey from Melbourne, Australia. I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' and then it was just, yeah, it was a crazy night."

Hannah transferred soon after to Southern Nazarene to join her brother in Oklahoma City. Now when Dad makes the journey to the U.S., he can see both his kids in action.

"It's amazing just to come here and see kids doing something they love," their father Warrick said. "You know, Josh obviously getting paid for it with OKC but Hannah, getting an education you know, starting new friendships. Really, I suppose, just enjoying life and doing something she loves and playing basketball. I couldn't be a prouder dad."

Hannah has just one year left with the Crimson Storm. Afterward, she plans to return home to Australia to compete for a spot on a WNBL roster, which is Australia's top women's league, but she says Oklahoma will always hold a special place in her heart.