Australian centre Andrew Bogut has unloaded on the NBA and his former team in an explosive interview with USA Today.
Bogut has been professional when asked about his departure from the Golden State Warriors last season in the past, stating that the NBA is a business and players must accept when they are traded.
However, in the interview, Bogut hit out at the club and the NBA in general, following recent parting shots directed at the Aussie big man.
โThis league is so two-faced and everybody is so fake,โ Bogut said.
โThe same people who made those comments will see me tomorrow and shake my hand and ask me how my family is.
โThis league is full of people who are full of (expletive) and shallow, and that's what you figure out in pro sports. It's very hard to meet a genuine person who you can call your friend in this league. That's just the reality, and I understand that.
โPeople can take parting shots. I didn't have a great Finals series obviously, with the injury, and finish off the way I wanted to, but that's the way it goes. I'm not bitter about it. I could have played better definitely, especially on the offensive end. But I think defensively that I provided something for them that really helped that team win games.โ
Bogut enjoyed a successful stint with the Warriors, winning the 2015 NBA Championship and reaching the 2016 NAB Finals Series, before he was offloaded to the Dallas Mavericks at the end of last season.
โI mean there's no doubt it's disappointing to leave one of the best teams โ record-wise, those last two years ... you leave a team like that and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was bitter in a way. I wasn't mad at anybody about it. I understood it completely. I'm not stupid,โ Bogut said.
The 31-year-old'sย Mavericks take on the Warriors in Oakland later this afternoon.
