NBA Star Andrew Bogut Unleashes On Political Correctness, Australia Day And More

NBA champion Andrew Bogut last week appeared on The Young IPA Podcast. Here is a sneak peek of what he had to say:

On why his outspoken political views mean he could never be AFL player:

“It gets to a point sometimes where players are kind of forced to feel robotic. I have a few friends who play in the AFL and have expressed that they never want to go against the team or the coach. So if they have a certain opinion or thought on things you can’t really go against [the grain] if you believe in it or not. And I think that’s a dangerous slope to tread. You always want to have open discussion on whatever.”

On councils choosing to abandon Australia Day:

“Are we in a democracy or are we not?…You can’t poll 200 people and then come to an agreement.”

On political correctness:

“I don’t think [political correctness] is ever going to end. A lot of these politicians are employed to just push social agendas and they’re going to have jobs for life because social policies have no end. It has no finish line.”

Growing up, I learned “I’m proud to be a wog, and I’m proud to be an Australian. I’m not going sit here and demand this and demand that because someone called me a wog on a high school playground.”

Political correctness “pushes people into thinking they’re victims all the time.”

“To say that things haven’t progressed from the 80s and 90s…you’d have to be an absolute idiot. Is there a way to go? Absolutely…[but] we’re a multicultural country.”

On why there are so many Australians in the NBA now:

“We’re influenced to be team orientated at an early age. If you have one good player on a team of 22 in footy you’re not doing much, but if you 22 good blokes that are doing well you’re usually going to win…[because of that] Australians are very comfortable being told ‘we’re going to change your role a little bit’ or ‘we need you do to this better for us’.

Americans can be flashier scorers, but “if what you need is a good rebounder, or if you need a good passer, or someone who’s a great guy in the locker room, I think Australians will pull their weight.”

Listen to the rest of the interview on iTunes, SoundCloud and our website. Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes and SoundCloud so you never miss an episode.

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