Aussie young gun’s star rising as two NBA nicknames take hold

The legend of Aussie Dyson Daniels continues to grow, after the point guard* pulled off a clutch block* to help his Atlanta Hawks to a 109-108 win over the Sacramento Kings.

The 201cm 21-year-old from Bendigo, Victoria, has had a breakout season, after being a near unknown trade piece* from the New Orleans Pelicans in the off-season.

Traded alongside a range of other players, Daniels wasn’t even mentioned in the initial breaking reports.

But the eighth overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft has been a revelation* in Atlanta.

With career averages of 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists, as well as 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks, through 13 games Daniels is currently averaging 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

He’s already tallied the four best point-scoring games of his short career, including his 28-point haul against Boston last week.

But the most impressive stat is the steals.

At 3.7 per game, he’s easily the best in the NBA so far this season — Washington’s Jordan Poole is second, averaging 2.1 a match.

Daniels’ average was definitely helped by becoming the first player since Alvin Robertson in 1986 to record six steals in four straight matches — a streak that ended with Atlanta’s loss to Portland earlier in the week.

It’s already earned him the brilliant nickname “Great Barrier Thief”, but his form against Sacramento sparked yet another wordplay*.

Finishing without a single steal against the Kings, it was four blocks, including the game-winning move on De’Aaron Fox, that had Daniels labelled “Block-adile Dundee*” on social media.

The game-winning block was disputed* by some fans – but the referee did not rule a foul and the replay also appeared to show the young Aussie kept his heel in the air as he spent the final seconds of the clock and held on for the win.

Daniels’ teammates put their own tongue-in-cheek* spin on the Aussie “thief” as well, celebrating by clutching his hands behind his back like a mock criminal having his sticky fingers walked off the court.

Rob Perez, also known as World Wide Wob on X, tweeted: “Walking the Great Barrier Thief off the floor in cuffs is a 10/10 cele*. No notes.”

It has fans already putting the young Aussie’s name up for the Defensive Player of the Year — and if he can continue these numbers all season, he’d be an excellent chance.

An Australian has never won the Defensive Player of the Year title in the NBA, while Ben Simmons is the only Aussie to have previously made the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team, a feat he achieved twice in 2020 and 2021.

But the NBA world was again wowed by the Aussie’s clutch move.

Sacramento Observer NBA reporter Mark Haynes tweeted: “Dyson Daniels made a heck of a play on De’Aaron Fox to steal a win from the Kings.”

Another fan posted: “Dyson Daniels just couldn’t have a game without a steal. What a strip!”

The official NBA account even called it “clutch defence”.

Another fan wrote: “Daniels showing he’s got ice in his veins!”

Another added: “Dyson Daniels is the most obvious All Defensive 1st team this season with AD*. Also top 3 in the DPOY* race easily.”

A fourth wrote: “Dyson Daniels, the Great Barrier Thief, strikes again. Clutch. What a play.”

The Great Barrier Thief nickname appears to have come from teammate Larry Nance Jr., who took over a recent media opportunity, asking: “You’ve been garnering* a lot of plaudits* due to your killer defensive games this year. People have been calling you the ‘Great Barrier Thief.’ I was just wondering if you had any previous nicknames or if you like that one?”

Pressed further later, Daniels said: “For me, you know, it’s ‘See ball, get ball.’ I chased balls around for my whole junior career and that’s what I did: play defence.

“So for me, it starts with team defence, keeping our man in front, making them take tough contested shots – and when they turn their back, that’s when I like to go for steals and stuff like that.”

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GLOSSARY

• clutch block: defensive move under pressure late in the game
• trade piece: when NBA teams exchange players, draft picks and cash considerations to improve rosters and financial flexibility
• revelation: surprising and previously unknown, revealing something true about something that had been a secret or just not understood
• wordplay: making jokes by using the meanings of words in an amusing or clever way
• Block-adile Dundee: refers to the title character in iconic Australian film Crocodile Dundee
• disputed: argued, disagreed,
• tongue-in-cheek: something designed to be funny and not to be taken seriously
• cele: an abbreviation of “celebration” and used mostly in social media posts and comments
• AD: it’s not clear, but this could be a reference to Anthony Marshon Davis Jr., nicknamed “AD”, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers
• DPOY: Defensive Player of the Year
• garnering: gathering, collecting, accumulating something
• plaudits: expressions of approval and praise

EXTRA READING

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Aussie teen drafted to the NBA

Aussie Jack on top of basketball world

QUICK QUIZ

1. Which NBA team is Australian basketballer Dyson Daniels playing for in the US?
2. What is his “steals” stat this season and where does average per game this rank him in the NBA?
3. What is the name of the NBA title he could be a chance of winning that no Australian has ever won?
4. Daniels is the first NBA player since Alvin Robertson in 1986 to do what?
5. What are the two memorable nicknames Daniels has earned for himself this season?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Can you think of a better nickname?
Dyson has been given some great nicknames, but can you think of an even better one for him? Use the information in the story and your imagination to think of one. Then, create a special logo for Dyson based on or using your nickname.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Visual Communication Design

2. Extension
Do you understand the basketball terms used in the story? Use your research skills to find out what they all mean (if you don’t know any or all of them). Use this information to create a glossary or word list for people who don’t know anything about basketball. The only rule is that you are not allowed to use words.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.

You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.

Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.

VCOP dodgeball
The normal rules of dodgeball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.

VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.

Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.

Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.

What can you come up with?