Insurance issues hindering Andrew Bogut's Australian plans – NBA Update
Andrew Bogut’s desire to play in Australia’s Basketball league amidst the NBA lockout has hit troubled water due to the insurance issues.
Two days back, his agent, Bruce Kaider suggested the deal was close to done and it looked like Bogut will be flying to his native country soon. However, the insurance are also holding back a caboodle of other NBA players from
pursuing overseas opportunities and Bogut is no different.
The insurance policy is estimated to cost $500,000 to the team that will acquire Bogut, which is almost 15 times more than Bogut’s humble payroll for the proposed move. Bogut has clearly mentioned that his move to play in Australia
is not to make extra bucks, but his passion for the game. Australia is his homeland and every international NBA player dreams about playing in his own country at some point in his life.
Time is however running out quickly. Bogut’s agent declared today, that the deal must be reached by afternoon or it is off.
Sydney Kings, the team which Bogut is supposed to represent in the Australian league is in a lot of agony. Last Night, they were hoping Bogut’s agent would be able to bump a deal between Milwaukee Bucks, FIBA and an insurance
agency in Europe but it was not be.
Kaider also hopes the issue gets solved quickly but also made it very clear that Bogut will not be a part of league if the insurance issue is not settled.
"We are really hopeful we can get a deal done, we are getting into the fine print of the policy, getting into the nitty gritty of it and that shows we've made some progress, the devil is in the detail and if we can't find a policy
that protects Andrew it's not really worth it for him to be taking risks” said Kaider.
Sydney Kings would be devastated if insurance Issue forces Bogut out of the league. Bogut, without any ambiguity is the biggest basketball star of Australia- no disrespect to Patty Mills who also plays in NBA. Watching Bogut play,
youngsters in Australia would get a lot of motivation and this will be good for Australian basketball in long run.
The regular NBA season is probably going to be cancelled this year as deadlock is now entering its fourth month and no progress is being made yet. So, playing in Australia in a competitive atmosphere would help him get into basketball
shape and stay match fit.
The Australian league starts this Friday and Bogut might miss the opener but we hope everything gets settled and his Australian fans get a chance to see him in action live.
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