'Not worth it': Andrew Bogut's devastating retirement announcement
Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut has announced he will retire from the sport.
Bogut announced his retirement on his new podcast ‘Rogue Bogues’.
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The 36-year-old centre retires after a lengthy career in the NBA and NBL, including winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.
Bogut was the first Australian player to be selected first overall in the NBA draft when the Milwaukee Bucks chose him in 2005.
He would go on to play in Milwaukee from 2005 to 2012, earning third-team All NBA honours in a career season in 2010, albeit one which was marred by an ugly season-ending broken hand and dislocated elbow when he fell after completing a dunk against the Phoenix Suns.
He joined the Warriors in 2012, helping the team to a breakthrough championship in 2015 before a knee injury during the 2016 Finals ruled him out of the final three games of the series.
Bogut was subsequently traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he played 26 games, before once again being traded and then subsequently waived by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Really tough Podcast to do!
👇👇👇👇 https://t.co/G9NLgN9mOs— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) November 30, 2020
A short-lived signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 ended in disaster when he fractured his tibia in his first outing, while he also made a brief cameo for the Los Angeles Lakers later that year.
He returned to Australia and signed a two-year deal in the NBL with the Sydney Kings in 2018, and also made a return to Golden State for the end of the 2018-2019 NBA season, where the Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors.
A leader. A champion. A Warrior through and through.
Thank you for the countless memories, @andrewbogut. Enjoy retirement 💙 pic.twitter.com/LvAUY1B6IE— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 30, 2020
Basketball world reacts to Andrew Bogut retirement
Bogut had harboured hopes of playing for Australia once again in the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but said on his podcast now was the time to call it quits.
He revealed he had undergone two surgical procedures while the sporting world was effectively on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a complete retirement from the sport for Andrew Bogut, who says he won’t play in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. His final season of basketball was with the Sydney Kings; he had a 14-year NBA career after being the No. 1 overall pick in 2005. He won an NBA title with the Warriors.
— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) November 30, 2020
When he returned to Australia in 2018 he targeted a return to the Olympics in 2020, a plan which was derailed.
“The decision I’ve made that where I’ll be signing next season is absolutely nowhere, I’ll be retiring from professional basketball effective immediately,” he said.
“I would have made this decision earlier if it wasn’t for the postponement of the Olympics.
“I was hoping to get to the 2020 Tokyo Games and call it a day after that.
“That would have been my fourth Olympics and selfishly that would have been a great accolade to have, but it’s just not meant to be.
"I just can't physically and mentally get to 2021 with the way the body has been.
"I mean, I could, on a lot of painkillers and with a lot of physical and mental anguish, but it's just not worth it at this point in my career."
Bogut was a huge part of building what became something great. That it evolved past him shouldn’t diminish his role in the whole thing. https://t.co/U2gX9qoQLL
— Benjamin Hoffman (@BenHoffmanNYT) November 30, 2020
Bogut 🥺 https://t.co/MCXUxXCHA8
— CHAKRA KHAN (@RayanaJay) November 30, 2020
Andrew Bogut announces his retirement.
One of eight Utes basketball players with his/her number retired at the Huntsman Center, No. 1 overall pick in 2005, 14 years in the NBA, picked up his lone ring in 2015 with Golden State.— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) November 30, 2020
On the court, Bogut was a big part of the revitalization of the Warriors franchise. Sweet passing, rim protecting, thudding screen setting with bonus illegal holds, gracefully accepting de-centering by the Small Ball Lineup of Death. https://t.co/bDxSvbN5oi
— Eric Apricot (@EricApricot) November 30, 2020
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