By RUSSELL BENNETT
ANDREW Bogut is far from the stereotypical NBA star.
He’s never been afraid to speak his mind, but he’s never sought the limelight. He’s never been part of the party scene or a regular on TMZ.
Soon after the Endeavour Hills product, now 30, won the 2014-’15 NBA title with the Golden State Warriors he treated himself, but it wasn’t with diamonds or jewels. His championship ring has enough of those. Instead he bought himself an Aussie muscle car – a Ford XW GT Phase II.
He’s long been a car nut – having partnered with his father in ABC Customs and Imports, a rare car restoration business in Dandenong South.
In fact, he credits Dandenong and its surrounds for instilling a sense of toughness in him that has helped shape him into the player, and person, he is.
Speaking at Foot Locker’s Swanston Street store at a meet-and-greet with local basketball fans on Thursday, he said: “Growing up around Dandy you’ve got to be street-smart and have a toughness about you just walking home from school.
“It’s a working-class suburb and if you’re soft and scared people will take advantage of you, so I grew up being the tougher guy.
“At times it was perceived the wrong way but that’s kind of what the area forced me to do. I think it definitely shaped me into who I am today.”
Bogut, a former first overall NBA draft pick, didn’t play a minute of the Warriors’ decisive Games 5 and 6 victories over LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
He admitted that at the start of the season, under new head coach Steve Kerr, the concept of team sacrifice was a bit of a culture shock.
“My first DNP-CD (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) was Game 5 of an NBA Finals,” he said.
“We all sacrificed. We had a bunch of guys who’d been All-Stars – I’d been All-NBA one year and All-Defensive Team, David Lee was a two-time All-Star, (Finals MVP) Iguodala had been an All-Star – we’ve all accomplished those individual accolades and realised they don’t really get you that far.
“People don’t remember all those individual accolades. When you win a championship ring, whether you’re the first guy or the 15th guy on the roster, you’re remembered in history forever.”
Earlier this year Bogut passed Luc Longley as the Australian to play the most NBA games.
He has battled through a series of freakish injuries over his career to date but he has still played at least 65 games in seven seasons so far, and is regarded by many as one of the best passing big men of his era.
In the past regular season he was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team after holding opponents to just 41.4 per cent at the rim (third best in the league) and being ranked third in defensive rating.
And he knew his role on offense was often to help the likes of league MVP Steph Curry and running-mate Klay Thompson score.
That was easier said than done in the finals, with another Australian – Matt Dellavedova – playing a relentless style of defence on Curry.
“We caught up for dinner during the regular season when we went to Cleveland and I joked that I’d see you in the finals … that’s actually how it worked out! But once the finals started it was a kind of no-contact type of attitude,” Bogut said of his relationship with Dellavedova, who some had labelled “dirty” for his physical play throughout the series.
“I just saw it as him playing hard,” Bogut said.
“Some of the stuff was possibly questionable – the guys on my team absolutely wanted to kill him, to be quite honest, because they thought he did some stuff that was borderline dirty. But if you ask 10 people about Delly they’ll give you 10 different opinions.
“He sees a loose ball and he dives on it – he doesn’t think about the repercussions … I don’t think he was purposely trying to injure guys. He was just trying to be physical and be that little terrier.”
Bogut admitted it was tough sitting on the bench for the last two games of the series, but he knew he’d played his role in the Warriors getting to the best-of-seven match-up with the Cavaliers in the first place.
“Every series was different for me,” he said.
“I was really called upon in the first three series because they had big fellas who were dominant. I was playing 30-plus minutes guarding Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard and taking elbows and knocks and all that.
“We obviously had to get through those series just to get to the finals so I’ll definitely take a championship ring facing a little bit of adversity along the way.”
Bogut praised the mercurial performance of LeBron James in the finals, but he and his team-mates knew if they could make life tough on his supporting cast (which was already restricted through injury), it would go a long way to deciding the series. And when that series was over, Bogut and his team-mates were in for another culture shock – a victory parade in downtown Oakland which over a million people came to watch.
“The parade was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“We had two players per bus – it was an open-air bus with the players at the top and there were around 10 buses.
“We were driving around downtown Oakland and on every corner we turned there were fans on buildings, hanging out of windows, hanging off traffic lights, up trees … it was unbelievable and something to remember forever.”
Next up for Bogut – and Dellavedova – is national duty with the Australian Boomers. They have a two-game Olympic qualifying series against New Zealand and their focus is already gearing up for it.
But Dellavedova also has to decide on his NBA future – with the Cavaliers tending him a qualifying offer. When asked if he had any advice for the young point guard, Bogut said simply: “I suggest he goes wherever there are more zeroes on his pay check at the end of the day.
“You always want to stay with a team that was as successful as Cleveland but I’m guessing if he gets an offer from somewhere else it’s probably going to be close to double what he’s possibly going to make next year with them. I’m not great at maths, but most people would probably take that offer.”
As for Bogut? He wants to stay with the Warriors and continue to build on what he thinks could be “something special”.
“I think management is trying to keep our core group together and we can all sense that this is the start of something special – that we can hopefully churn out a couple more championships before the run is over,” he said.
VIDEO: Andrew Bogut speaks with Andrew Gaze about the importance of a good defence
