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But unlike most of his professional
counterparts, Bogut's pause from sports may extend well beyond
the coronavirus-induced break.
The 35-year-old, 14-year NBA veteran was planning to retire
after playing for his native Australia at the 2020 Summer
Olympics in Tokyo. But those games have been pushed back a year,
and Bogut told an Australian news program in a report Sunday
that the delay could mean the end of his career.
"I'm not doing much, I can tell you that," Bogut told the
Australian television show "Offsiders."
"To be able to kiss your kids goodnight and put them down every
night ... I've appreciated doing that," he continued.
Bogut spent this past season in Australia after playing 11 games
in the NBA with Golden State in 2018-19. After Milwaukee made
him the No.1 overall pick in 2005, Bogut spent seven seasons
with the Bucks, followed by stints with the Warriors (twice),
Dallas, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers. He won his only
NBA championship in 2015 with Golden State.
He has two sons, ages 2 and 3.
"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," Bogut said. "(My career has) all been
thrown into a washing machine, essentially ... but there's a
decision (about retirement) to be made probably by mid-May."
Bogut helped Australia finish fourth in the 2019 FIBA Basketball
World Cup. That success, combined with the fact that
Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons could play for Australia in
the Olympics after missing the World Cup, had Bogut anticipating
this summer's games.
But he isn't sure his body can take another year of training and
playing.
"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," Bogut told the show. "To be
part of that, selfishly, is something I really want to do, but
the body is what it comes down to.
"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."
Bogut averaged 9.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in his
NBA career, playing in 706 games and starting 661.
--Field Level Media
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