Draymond Green has given enormous praise to Andrew Bogut in a special tribute to the Australian basketball great.
Green says Bogut was “vital” to the beginning of the Golden State Warriors dynasty and credited the retired centre for being as important as anyone to his own Hall of Fame caliber career.
Bogut played four of his 14 NBA seasons for the powerhouse Warriors from 2012 to 2016 and was a key member of their 2015 championship team as the defensive anchor of Steve Kerr’s team.
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It kickstarted a golden era for the franchise, led by Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Green, where it won an additional three titles in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
A former No. 1 pick, the Melbourne-born Bogut also played in the 2016 NBA Finals but suffered a knee injury in Game 5 as Golden State went on to lose the championship series to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.
It marked Bogut’s last appearance for the Warriors after he was traded to Dallas the following off-season to help Golden State free up salary cap space for the marquee signing of Kevin Durant.
Speaking on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, the four-time NBA champion said Bogut “on my career is as valuable as anyone”.
“Andrew Bogut taught me how to play defence the first day I got to Golden State. Andrew Bogut helped me understand different reads on the defensive end as good as anyone as has taught me,” said Green, who was drafted by the Warriors with Pick 35 in the 2012 NBA Draft.
“I can never over state enough how much he meant to me and my career and the player I have been able to become.
“When you talk the beginning of the Dubs dynasty and how important Bogut was, he was that force in the middle for us. We knew going up against Dwight Howard and the great bigs in the league at the time, we knew we had a guy who could guard and stop all of them.
“During that time, bigs were very valuable. Going into these series, we knew, no matter what at the five position, we’re going to be solid, because ‘Boges’ got em’.
“He was very valuable in his leadership and he was very vital to the beginning of the dynasty and what became a dynasty. Huge. Everything he taught myself, I can never thank ‘Boges’ enough.
“Incredible. Like I was so lucky to come into an organisation that had Andrew Bogut to teach me the things he taught me. Because it’s paid dividends on my career and allowed me to become the defender I’ve become.”
Green added that “no one ever talks about” Bogut’s injury in the 2016 NBA Finals, saying it was a costly blow to the team in its hunt for back-to-back championships.
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“We need ‘Boges’ in that series … that was huge for us,” the 35-year old said.
“Because when you lose a player in a series, truing to find that fifth guy can always be tough. Now you’ve got to try and find a fifth guy to plug in, we just didn’t really have enough time for the adjustment.
“That was huge, no one ever really talks about ‘Boges’ being hurt and missing that Game 7. But that was everything, we needed ‘Boges’ in that Game 7.
“I think if we had ‘Boges’, completely different story. Nonetheless, it is what it is and we weren’t able to make up what we lost in his absence.”
Green and Curry are the last two remaining members of those golden era teams, but even Steve Kerr recently conceded “we are a fading dynasty” after they’ve sat in a West play-in seed for the majority of this season.
The Ringer’s Kirk Goldsberry this week acknowledged Golden State is missing a big man presence like it had with Bogut in years past.
“The frontcourt has been bad … they used to have Keon Looney. They used to have, going way back, Bogut, next to them,” Goldsberry said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
“Now that character’s not there. And, of course, the Klay Thompson character’s not there.”
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