By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Andrew Bogut is nearing a decision on when to end his career. The former NBA center and 2015 NBA champion initially planned to retire following the 2020 Olympic Games. The coronavirus pandemic pushing the Tokyo Games to 2021 may keep him active for one more season.
“I’m not doing much, I can tell you that,” he revealed talking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Offsiders” program, which aired Sunday, “To be able to kiss your kids goodnight and put them down every night … I’ve appreciated doing that.”
Bogut topped the 2005 NBA draft and went on to play 783 NBA games. The past couple of seasons competed in Australia’s NBL with the Sydney Kings.
“I haven’t done any basketball since the season ended, and it feels good waking up, getting out of bed and not feeling like I’m walking on glass,” he mentioned, “It’s all been thrown into a washing machine, essentially … but there’s a decision to be made probably by mid-May.”
The plan was to represent Australia in the Olympic Games for the fourth time before retiring. Launched his Olympic campaigns in 2004, returned in 2008 and 2016. Missed the 2012 Olympic Games due to a left ankle injury.
“We’ve been tantalizingly close, and the squad we’re going to have is arguably going to be the best squad in the history of the Boomers, on paper at least,” pointed out Bogut, “To be part of that, selfishly, is something I really want to do, but the body is what it comes down to.”
An additional Olympic run will likely mean going through one more season, the 16th of his lengthy professional career. “I can get up for a basketball game any day of the week, but it’s hard to get up for five, six days of training a week and lifting weights,” he stressed.