Matisse Vincent Thybulle is an Australian-American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.
28 Facts About Matisse Thybulle
2.
Matisse Thybulle was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers the following day.
3.
Matisse Thybulle was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2021 and 2022.
4.
Matisse Thybulle is a dual American-Australian citizen and spent around seven years of his childhood in Sydney.
5.
Matisse Thybulle was a member of the Australian national team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
6.
Matisse Thybulle was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the son of Greg, a Haitian-born engineer raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, and Dr Elizabeth Matisse Thybulle, a naturopath who died of leukemia in 2015.
7.
The Matisse Thybulle family lived in Sydney's North Shore while in Australia and the children attended elementary school at North Sydney Demonstration School.
8.
Matisse Thybulle did not play much basketball in Australia and focused more on swimming while there, where he said lifeguards "were a really big deal".
9.
Matisse Thybulle's family returned to the US in 2005 and settled in Sammamish, Washington, a suburb east of Seattle.
10.
Matisse Thybulle attended Skyline High School for two years, then transferred to nearby Eastside Catholic, where he was ranked a four-star recruit by Scout.
11.
Matisse Thybulle chose to attend the University of Washington in Seattle based on his relationship with Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar.
12.
Matisse Thybulle was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in school history to receive the honor.
13.
Matisse Thybulle averaged a career-high 11.2 points per game, set a Huskies single-season record with 101 steals, and led Washington with a team-leading 49 blocks.
14.
Matisse Thybulle became the second player in Pac-12 history with at least 90 steals and 40 blocks in the same season, joining Jeff Trepagnier.
15.
Matisse Thybulle won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and Lefty Driesell Award as the top defensive player in the nation.
16.
Matisse Thybulle was named first-team All-Pac-12, and became the second player in conference history to repeat as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
17.
Matisse Thybulle led all NCAA Division I players with 126 steals, which broke the Pac-12 single-season record held previously by Jason Kidd.
18.
Matisse Thybulle ranked eighth nationally with 83 blocks, becoming the only player in the past two decades to record at least 100 steals and 80 blocks.
19.
Matisse Thybulle passed Gary Payton to become the conference leader in career steals with 331, and was the first in Pac-12 history with two 100-steal seasons.
20.
Matisse Thybulle tied Washington's career blocks record of 186 held by Chris Welp, and he is the only player in Huskies history ranked in the top 10 in both career steals and blocks.
21.
The Philadelphia 76ers targeted Matisse Thybulle leading up to the 2019 NBA draft.
22.
The 76ers had Matisse Thybulle stop working out for other teams, promising in exchange to select him in the first round with their No 24 overall pick.
23.
On July 11,2020, Matisse Thybulle started uploading a series of vlog style YouTube videos showcasing the 2020 NBA Bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida.
24.
Matisse Thybulle was the NBA leader with 3.8 steals per 100 possessions as well as 5.6 deflections per 36 minutes.
25.
On February 9,2023, Matisse Thybulle was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in a four-team trade involving the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.
26.
Matisse Thybulle is a dual citizen of Australia as well as the United States and is therefore eligible to represent either national team.
27.
On February 3,2021, Matisse Thybulle was named as part of the Australian Boomers squad for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which began immediately after the 2021 NBA Finals.
28.
Matisse Thybulle helped Australia to obtain their first ever Olympic medal in men's basketball, beating Slovenia in the bronze medal game.