Matisse's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Basketball
Event: Men's Basketball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1997
State Born: Arizona, USA
About Matisse
Born in the US state of Arizona, Scottsdale, Matisse Thybulle relocated to Sydney as an infant and lived in Australia for about seven years before moving back to the USA in the suburbs of Seattle.
After strong performances for his high school team Eastside Catholic, Matisse entered college with the University of Washington where he played basketball for four years.
In his junior season Matisse was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first at his college to do so. In that season he set a Huskies record with 101 steals and recorded a team-best 49 blocks in a season.
In his final Washington season his defensive prowess garnered more awards, winning the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as retaining his title as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Matisse would also be selected on the All-Pac-12 first team.
After a standout senior campaign Matisse entered the 2019 NBA Draft and was selected with the 20th pick in the first round by the Boston Celtics, then immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Thybulle made his debut for the 76ers in October 2019 and started to gain league-wide notoriety for being an upper-echelon defensive player.
In the 2020-21 season he was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team, as one of the top ten defenders in the league. By the end of the season he led the NBA in steals per 100 possessions (3.8), as well as deflections per 36 minutes (5.6).
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (in 2021) Matisse and the Boomers lifted Australia to the bronze medal, defeating Slovenia in the bronze medal match 107-93.
His trademark suffocating defence helped achieved our nation's first men's basketball Olympic medal since Australia made its men's basketball Olympic debut in 1956.
Matisse played in all six matches for the Boomers and averaged 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3 steals and 0.5 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game.
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