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12/22/2024 05:27:57 pm

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Olympic Basketball News: Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Bogut Unlikely to Play for Australia in Rio

andrew bogut

(Photo : gettyimages.com) Andrew Bigut clutching his knee in pain during the Warriors vs. the Cavaliers NBA 2016 Finals Game 5. As a result of this injury, he will not play for Australia in the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics.

Veteran starting center Andrew Bogut of the Golden State Warriors has ruled himself out of the forthcoming 2016 Summer Olympics on Thursday, noting that the "bone bruises" around his left knee will not heal in time to give him the chance to play for Australia in Rio.

Bogut, a Melbourne, Victoria-born player, underwent an MRI on Tuesday, and the clinical test revealed that the impact led to bone bruises to his proximal tibia and distal femur. Fortunately, the untimely injury will not be grounds for a major surgery, but it will take Bogut a period of 6-8 weeks to fully recuperate.

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"I'm not great at math, but six to eight weeks minimum is what I've been told," Bogut said. "It's very unlikely at this point, to be honest."

The 31-year-old suffered the unfortunate injury after a collision with Cleveland Cavaliers' veteran guard J.R. Smith early in the third period of the Warriors' 112-97 Game 5 loss at the Oracle Arena on Monday evening.  The big man's left knee seemed to buckle as Smith landed awkwardly after driving hard to the basket. The incident made Bogut fall while holding his knee in great pain. He had to be carried out to the players' locker room.

"Somehow he cannonballed right into my shin with his shoulder," the 7-footer center said. "It was painful. ... I thought I blew out my knee, with the pain that I had."

Bogut, who was the 2005 NBA draft No. 1, is hoping to become a triple Olympian. He has played for the Boomers and represented the FIBA Oceania regional powerhouse in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

He went on a seven-year absence from the national team. However, in 2015 he participated and victoriously won in the FIBA Oceania Championships which gave Australia an automatic Rio Olympic slot.

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