Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut has announced his retirement effective immediately.
Not only will the centre not play in the upcoming NBL season for the Sydney Kings, he will also not be at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“The decision hasn’t been an easy one, but I think it’s the right one so without further ado, the decision I’ve made on where I’ll be signing for next year is absolutely nowhere,” Bogut said on his podcast.
“I’ll be retiring from professional basketball effective immediately.
“I would’ve made this decision earlier if it wasn’t for the postponement of the Olympics. I was hoping to get to 2020 … and call it a day after that and that would’ve been my fourth Olympics and selfishly that would’ve been a great accolade to have four Olympics under your belt, but it’s just not meant to be.
“I can’t physically and mentally get to 2021 with the way the body has been, I mean I could, on painkillers and a lot of physical and mental pain, but it’s just not worth it at this point in my career.”
Bogut was the number one pick in the 2005 NBA Draft and won a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.