Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey and the team cut a red ribbon Friday to unveil a newly transformed game room at the Ronald McDonald House serving Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, giving families enduring long hospital stays a fresh place to decompress. The space at 211 E. Grand Ave. in Streeterville now features board games, an arcade basketball game, two flat-screen TVs hooked up to PlayStation consoles, and artwork celebrating Australian animals like a platypus and an emu — a nod to Giddey's home country.
The unveiling, reported by WBEZ Chicago, also included a pair of Giddey's signature shoes and his Chicago No. 3 Bulls jersey on display in the room. Giddey said the project blends Bulls and Australia-themed touches specifically designed to give kids and their families a mental break from hospital routines. He called the room something that means the world to him, according to the station's report.
The Ronald McDonald House at Lurie Children's is no small operation. The 15-story facility opened in June 2012 as a $40 million project with 86 guest rooms, making it the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world at the time, according to CBS Chicago. Beyond its general guest quarters, the building includes two floors designated for outpatient care and children receiving organ transplants, per Lurie Children's Hospital.
A House Built Around a Top-Ranked Hospital
The house sits five blocks from a hospital with serious medical weight behind it. Lurie Children's was ranked the No. 1 children's hospital in Illinois for 2025–2026 by U.S. News & World Report and was the state's only pediatric hospital ranked across all 11 evaluated specialties, the hospital announced in October 2025. That volume and complexity of care is part of why the Ronald McDonald House exists in the first place — it serves families with seriously ill or injured children who need to stay close to treatment.
Lisa Mitchell, chief program officer at Ronald McDonald House Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana, said the new game room brings fun and joy to families navigating difficult circumstances. Calvin Parson, the Chicago Bulls' executive director of community engagement, praised Giddey's consistent passion for the healthcare community during the ribbon-cutting, per the station's account.
Among the families on hand was Kelly Proctor, who has stayed at the house with her family for a little over six weeks while her daughter, Georgia, recovers from a brain infection at Lurie Children's. Another Proctor family member, Addie, said she plans to visit the new game room 20 times a month, according to WBEZ.
Giddey's First Major Community Project in Chicago
The game room marks Giddey's first major community project in Chicago, per the Bulls organization. Giddey, a Melbourne native who was selected 6th overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by Oklahoma City, holds the NBA record as the youngest player to record a triple-double at 19 years and 84 days old and earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors in 2022, according to Sports Reference data. He also represented Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics before the Chicago Bulls acquired him in June 2024 in a straight trade with Oklahoma City that sent defensive specialist Alex Caruso the other way, as reported by the Associated Press.
During the 2024–25 season, his first full year running Chicago's backcourt, Giddey set career highs in rebounds, assists, steals, and three-point shooting percentage, according to Pippen Ain't Easy. Beyond Friday's unveiling, Giddey has given game tickets to healthcare workers, visited patients at children's hospitals, and taken part in holiday-season toy deliveries and meal service, per WBEZ's reporting. He also sponsored pizza and ice cream for dinner during the event and plans to do additional community projects going forward, the station noted.
How the Regional Charity Keeps the Lights On
The game room project also points to the broader work of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana. The chapter raised $1.7 million at an annual gala, while local McDonald's franchise operators contributed $3.4 million in 2024 through customer Round-Up donations, the outlet reported.
Friday's ribbon-cutting tied Giddey's project to the Bulls' community outreach in Chicago.
For families like the Proctors, the new room offers something simpler than statistics: a place to play a game of arcade basketball or watch a movie together while their children heal a few blocks away at Lurie Children's. It's a small addition inside a very large system built to keep families close to their kids during the hardest stretches of a hospital stay.
