Bucking the trend
June 17, 2007

Andrew Bogut finds the behaviour of many NBA stars and much of American culture distasteful.

In many ways, they seem a perfect match. A 213-centimetre NBA star with a predilection for poker and nice cars, and the US, a land where success is lauded and riches are flaunted.

But while Andrew Bogut's peers easily drop six figures for a piece of jewellery, indulge in tattoos, outrageous cars, gigantic houses and exude an attitude to match, Bogut lives a quite different life. Maybe it's because he's new to this mad, excessive environment of private planes, Hummers and bling. But the enigmatic 22-year-old Milwaukee Bucks centre, widely anticipated to become Australia's greatest basketballer, prefers simpler pleasures and the kind of lifestyle that keeps him in touch with his past.

"The public's image of NBA players is true," he says forthrightly. "A lot of them get caught up in the hype and do video clips with rappers and all that crap. They want bling bling all over themselves and drive fast cars. But I think that's just the way the culture is in America — if you've got it, flaunt it and if you don't, you can't."

Bogut catches himself. He bought some nice wheels recently and he collects old cars. He reasons that his father was in the motor trade and recalls how, as a youngster, he and his father would give the thumbs up to people driving by in cool cars. "But that's where it stops for me," he says. "I'm not into jewellery. I've got an earring but they're not too expensive. There are guys who drop a hundred grand for a chain. The public's got it right, a lot of NBA stars are arrogant and like to spend lots of money and have lots of girlfriends and all that.

"The smarter guys don't do that. They like to live a regular life and want to retire and be set up. About 80 per cent of them go broke by the time they retire or come close to it.

"If you want to keep living that lifestyle when you're 40, but the millions have stopped coming in, you suddenly find your friends are gone and you've got nothing. It's a tough situation for some of those guys, especially the ones who come from the ghettos or tough upbringings.

"The funny thing is that we have compulsory tutoring each week where they teach you to manage your money and they tell you about all the things that can happen to you, people trying to take advantage of you, but it's amazing how many of the guys totally ignore it.

"I guess if you're a normal person and all of a sudden you're getting $10 million a year, it can go to your head. But I really think it's just the culture over there. I would never want my child to be brought up in an environment like that, where if you have money, you're supposed to flaunt it and make everyone jealous. The American attitude is 'We're the best'. That's why the NBA guys who come from other countries, the Europeans, all sort of stick together away from the game."

It's not that Bogut forbids himself to enjoy the rewards of his success. But everything's relative. "I like to go to casinos," he says. "There's a casino in Milwaukee with a poker room. You don't want to be playing too often, of course, but I probably play once a week."

The poker craze sweeping the US caught Bogut last year. He often plays against "the boys". But he does the real business at the casino. You might expect him to play in a separate room for high rollers and famous people. But he doesn't. "People know who I am when I walk in," he says. "But I'm not the kind of person to expect a private table. I like to play against regular people. When you sit at a table, for the first half an hour, you're an NBA star. But after that, everyone forgets that and just plays cards. I think that's pretty cool. Like anywhere, you get good people and there's the people who want to try to take your money. Some people want to play you so they can talk to you. Others want to try to put you in your place."

Bogut has learnt a lot about humanity over the past couple of years. Well before he became the NBA's first foreign player to be named the No. 1 draft pick, wheelers, dealers and agents besieged him, trying to tap into his huge earning potential. He signed with smooth-talking David Bauman, of management group SFX, which looks after some the game's biggest names, including Kobe Bryant.

Yes, there are massive sponsorship deals being negotiated. Yes, Bogut has a long way to go to truly live up to the hype. Yes, there are some who believe the young Buck has a bit to learn about modesty and respect. However, some light chat with Bogut reveals a sportsman proud of his foundations and achievements, one who finds solace in normality (at least, for now) in spite of the temptations around him.

"We'll finish practice each day around 2 or 3pm and I'll always have some errands to run before the close of business," he says.

"I'm always sending something back to Australia or getting something repaired or whatever. Then I'll have a nice meal and relax for a while, maybe play cards or go out with friends for a drink. I don't really plan my week. I like to be able to do whatever I feel like doing. Other times, I'll just stay home and watch a DVD or get on the internet for a few hours and read about cars, poker players, basketballers, read the Australian newspapers …

"When I arrived, they gave me a cheque and I got myself an apartment downtown. I've set myself up pretty comfortably. But … I really miss Australia because I have a house with a backyard. I'm in the process of looking for a house in Milwaukee because I just got a dog, a Husky, and I'm not allowed to keep it in my apartment. I always wanted a Husky when I was growing up."

This is an unprecedented insight into the private life of one of Australia's most cryptic sports stars. Bogut speaks sharply and with conviction. He is mostly serious but laughs occasionally. The apparently rehearsed lines wither as the conversation begins to flow and he relaxes.

It's questions about Bogut's work environment that get him fired up. Bogut may loathe aspects of American culture. But it's not as though he thinks Australia's tall poppy syndrome is a healthy alternative. "I don't know why, but people do try to cut you down in Australia," he says. "Look at Lleyton Hewitt. From all the things I read about him, I thought he was an idiot. But then you get to a similar position, being around a big sport, you start to see things a bit differently."

So, what kind of image would he like people to have of him? "I'd like people to think of me as someone who works very hard, who has gone through a lot of crossroads along the way," he says. "I clashed with a lot of coaches and people along the way, I've worked a lot and I'm proud of who I am and where I've got to. I don't want to be seen as arrogant but I know that sometimes that's how it will come across. I have a lot of respect for the game and I hope it respects me back.

"There are people out there who can't accept it when you say that you've given up a lot to get where you are. They only see that you're getting paid millions of dollars to play basketball.

"But as a 15-year-old, it's very different. You can't go out, you have to give up friends, you lose childhood friendships because you don't have any time and all of a sudden, you're left with one or two friends. As a young guy, that's pretty hard to get your head around.

"I always wanted to make it in basketball. But then I missed out on the state team and it was turning into a nightmare. I wondered whether it was all worth it and when I was about 16, I wanted to quit … Before that point, my dad had said I could stop if I wanted to. But by that time, he'd realised my potential and wouldn't let me give up. It all went from there."

Within four years, Bogut went from Victorian junior team reject to NBA star. "It is an amazing world I'm living in, more crazy than you think, mate," he says.

So its okay for Bogut to drop millions on expensive cars because his dad was in the motor trade, but its not cool for ignorant NBA ball players to drop millions on jewelry because Bogut doesn't like jewelry?

Bogut also has a fetish for the casino and poker playing which is the norm for many high rollers.... Nah, Bogut doesn't sound anything like your typical NBA player of today

[Edited by - bigbeast on 19-06-2007 12:04 PM]

He is enjoying live and he is not concerned about what people think about him.
This is hard to beat.
You can see same attitude from a lot of great players in their prime. They don't need to show up.
But Bogut is young player and he already free of crap.
This easy to understand - he was never oppressed and never had any need to show up.
Not the case for a lot of guys in US. But Rom is Rom. Any empire has its own gladiators.

I'm surprised at the outrage. Where he's saying that a lot of NBA players foolishly waste their money leading lavish lifestyles, instead of saving some of it so they live comfortably through retirement is true. I also think the NBA has an image of immaturity, guys who don't carry themselves around as professionals and more public attitude problems than some of the other sports. Touchy topic.

Now clearly, Bogut has some vices too, so as was said, he may not be the best person to give this advice.

Give me a break, there is a reason the nba has an image problem, because the players for the most part are all dumb and don't know how to handle themselves. Anyone remember the year the lockout happend and players didn't know what do with their finances because checks weren't coming in........

Boguts remarks are right on, its just a hard to get a handle on what he is saying because he is spending a good deal of money as well, you can dump on his basketball skills if you want, but have 98 tvs and 12 cars when your net worth is about 40 million for a lot of these second tier players is going to put them right back on the street

Its not that his point of contention is completely invalid, its just that its completely obscured by his hypocrisy and lack of tact. He's made a habit out of speaking out of turn and I am sure fans in Milwaukee would like for him to concern himself more with justifying being the #1 pick in the league, and not with whats around somebody's neck. He's attention seeking.

It has to be reiterated, Marbury tries to make a difference with his latest ventures, and all people want to do is talk about his shortcomings as a player. This guy is just running his mouth and trying to rile up close-minded conservatives...what is Bogut trying to do to improve "humanity."? Gambling and buying antique cars is hardly setting the sort of example he is supposedly trying to promote.

Yeah i lost all cred give me a break go down half the players on each team and I am willing to bet my statements are pretty dead on, it doesn't make someone a bad person, but most of these kids didn't get the necessary education because they weren't held to the same standard, had people doing their work for them in the minimal time they spent in school and don't possesses the necessary intelligence to realize speding hundreds of thousands on jewls is absurd, not to mention giving out whatever to their entourages

"the players for the most part are ALL dumb"

Gee MS, I never thought of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Jason Kidd, David Lee, Channing Frye, Mardy Collins, Allen Iverson ("man, we talkin' bout practice...") Kyle Korver, the generous Stephon Marbury, Kobe (even though getting busted was dumb) or Vince Carter (who attended his college graduation the same day as a playoff game) as dumb.

by the way, where did you graduate from MS?

Posted by nyk4ever:

His point is: NBA players foolishly spend their money. This is probably accurate for most NBA players and have no problem with him saying so. I think he is just being a complete hypocrite

Is he being a hypocrite? Depends on how much he spends on the cars and if its a foolish investment.

Posted by MS:

Yeah i lost all cred give me a break go down half the players on each team and I am willing to bet my statements are pretty dead on, it doesn't make someone a bad person, but most of these kids didn't get the necessary education because they weren't held to the same standard, had people doing their work for them in the minimal time they spent in school and don't possesses the necessary intelligence to realize speding hundreds of thousands on jewls is absurd, not to mention giving out whatever to their entourages

Even though you are being awfully general, those are big sociological issues you are attempting to tackle. They demand more investigation than just a superficial glance to haphazardly explain why some guys in the NBA are so dysfunctional. My point is that more people, especially those in charge that facilitate the environment you describe, should be held accountable but often aren't.

In any event, Bogut is really, really unlikable.