Andrew Bogut makes basketball history

Number 1 NBA Draft pick

Australian basketballer Andrew Bogut has made history in New York this morning, being the first Australian player to be picked as the Number One Draft player in America’s NBA.

The 213cm Centre was picked by the Milwaukee Bucks, beating out American Marvin Williams for the number one spot. Bogut was tipped slightly ahead of Williams to take the top spot, but the teams remained tight-lipped about their picks ahead of the Draft announcement at 9.30am AEST.

The deal Bogut now has with the NBA will reportedly be worth around $14.2 million over three years. His number one status will also entitle him to millions of dollars worth of endorsements.

Basketball Australia CEO Scott Derwin was with the family at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the Draft.

“This best-ever Australian NBA Draft performance gives an indication of just how good the development of Australian basketball is,” Derwin said. “Andrew is only the second non-American to go Number 1, with China’s Yao Ming the first in 2002, which augurs well for Boomers program and for the profile of basketball in Australia.”

Bogut is a current member of the Australian Boomers squad, which is heading to Perth and Sydney to play a 4-nations tournament against China, New Zealand and Lithuania in August.

Tickets for the event went on sale today through Ticketmaster7. While Bogut has not confirmed his attendance at the event, tournament organisers are still hopeful he will fit the tournament around his NBA commitments.

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