Australian NBA star Andrew Bogut says Australian sport stars need to be allowed to show off more of their personality to the media.
Bogut, who has been in the NBA system since 2005, has witnessed firsthand how American sporting clubs allow their athletes freedom to speak their mind and show their personalities and he believes Australia should do the same.
โWeโre supposed to be more humble and say itโs all about the team and all that kind of stuff even though you know half the guys saying that donโt really mean it, itโs just what theyโve been media trained,โ Bogut toldย SEN this morning.
โEspecially with the AFL, itโs all about the club, itโs all about the inner sanctum, and it is, you want it to be about team first, but I still think personalities, the 80โs and 90โs era of football were great to me because you had so many personalities.
โItโs media training. I can see through media training straight away, we have to do it every year, weโre forced to do it.
โI definitely think itโs club imposed and I think we see it with our national team a bit, you know itโs team first and don't try to stray outside the lines which makes things vanilla.
โIโd rather just tell it like it is, give your opinion, I think conflict and controversy isnโt a bad thing at times.โ
Bogut isnโt shy of speaking his mind, especially on Twitter, nor is rising Aussie NBA star Ben Simmons.
Earlier this week, Simmons was asked who he thought the NBAโs rookie of the year should be and his response was "who would I pick? Me, 100 percent."
This is the kind of honesty and personality that Bogut wants to see from AFL and other Australian sports stars.
โWith social media and whatnot the NBA has figured out guys are going to do it regardless, we might as well do it in a controlled setting and try to help them and media train them to get the right message out,โ Bogut said.
โIf Iโm asked a question, whether itโs about basketball or how to put a painting on the wall, Iโm going to answer it.
โI might not be right, but thatโs going to be my opinion and Iโll deal with the consequences of it.โ
Bogut joined the LA Lakers in 2017 and was waived by them in early 2018 but he says his NBA career is not yet over.
โI still think Iโve got basketball left in me itโs just a matter of when and where,โ Bogut said.
