Bogut sprays NBL bosses
ANDREW Bogut has blasted the NBL hierarchy for its lack of communication with players and “retroactive” management that led to the Kings’ grand final series against Perth being cancelled and awarded to the Wildcats with two games still to play.
Perth, which led the series 2-1 ahead of yesterday’s scheduled fourth game, was awarded the title on Thursday in extraordinary circumstances as sports grapple with the coronavirus crisis.
The season was halted on Tuesday when the Kings informed the league they were no longer comfortable participating in the series because of the threat posed by coronavirus, with the NBL subsequently giving themselves a 48-hour window to determine the outcome of the series.
Kings centre Bogut said he had no issue with the eventual decision but slammed the league for not leading the process, saying players were “used like pawns”.
“It’s hugely disappointing for any professional athlete to make the decision we had made,” Bogut said. “To me, what’s more disappointing is how the NBL have handled this. That’s got nothing to do with Perth, I’ve got no issues with all that.
“The retroactive aspect of this [from the NBL] has been 10 out of 10. The proactive was barely one [out of 10], the reactive stuff probably about five.”
Bogut said there were no contingency plans or scenarios planned out by the league, and that players were treated as “an afterthought”.
“It took us to initiate these meetings, to push these meetings, to find out if there was going to be a crowd. Our front office had to call Perth and the league to find out what was going on.”
Bogut revealed Kings players broke down in tears during a three-hour meeting, and said several players are struggling mentally with the situation.
Discussing the social responsibilities of athletes, Bogut described the decisions by the AFL and the NRL to continue matches behind closed doors as “questionable”.