Dan Andrews is forced to deny he tipped off the AFL about state’s snap lockdown and left small business in the dark – but Andrew Bogut is not convinced
- Andrew Bogut retweets doctored video of Dan Andrews with Pinocchio nose
- Former NBA star has been publicly critical of Victorian Premier on social media
- Bogut scoffed at Andrews’ denial he tipped off AFL teams about lockdown
Outspoken Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut has scoffed at Dan Andrews’ denial that he tipped off the AFL about Melbourne’s latest lockdown before announcing the move to the public.
The Victorian Premier responded to the reports in a press conference on Friday morning when he was asked why AFL clubs in his state fled just hours prior to the stay-at-home-order being announced.
‘Nah. No. Nope. Any suggestion of that is wrong. Simply wrong,’ he said when asked whether he tipped off the league.
Australian former NBA star Bogut retweeted a doctored video of Andrews’ response on twitter showing him with a large Pinocchio-like nose.
‘Just have happened to guess and mass relocate a day or two before lockdown the last few lockdowns. Just sheer luck,’ he tweeted.
Outspoken Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut has scoffed at Dan Andrews’ denial of tipping off the AFL prior to announcing Melbourne’s latest lockdown
Former NBA star and no.1 overall pick Bogut retweeted a doctored video of Andrews’ response on twitter showing him with a large Pinocchio-like nose
The ex-Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors center has been critical of the Andrews government for their repeated lockdowns and failure to control the state’s ongoing battle with the pandemic.
He has been particularly vocal about Andrews’ leadership, criticising the state’s constant lockdowns.
‘Everyones job is essential. Essential to them. Essential to their family. Essential to their mortgage. Essential to their food purchases. Essential service,’ Bogut tweeted Thursday.
He also retweeted a post from a reporter from The Australian saying the Victorian Premier was making the same excuses.
‘Daniel Andrews has locked down 6.7 million Victorians after the state’s Covid-19 outbreak reached 18 cases, declaring ”you only get one chance to go hard and go fast”. He meant five chances, of course,’ Adam Creighton said in a tweet shared by the former NBA star.
Bogut’s recent suspicions surrounding Andrews’ tipping off to the AFL was supported by others on social media, with several predicting the lockdown based on the movements of the footy teams.
‘No need for the Dan Andrews suit or North Face jacket just follow the #AFL travel plans to see the likelihood of an Victorian lockdown,’ one person said.
‘Which can only mean 1 thing. VIC Gov has told the AFL that VIC is going to lockdown, before VIC Gov have told the VIC people,’ another tweeted in response to the Swans and Giants being relocated out of Melbourne.
‘Why does the get advanced warning to the public? Or is it just a coincidence that clubs left on mass before the lockdown was announced?’ another social media user asked.
Bogut won the 2015 NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors alongside Steph Curry
The Victorian Premier responded to the reports in a press conference on Friday morning when asked why clubs in his state coincidentally fled hours prior to the stay-at-home-order
Bogut recently claimed on his Rogues Bogues podcast that Andrews’ government threatened to remove all funding from Basketball Australia if they didn’t convince Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons to feature in two showcase games.
‘The call was given to Basketball Australia [from the Victorian government], it basically said this; ‘if you don’t let Ben Simmons play these two games in Melbourne that money is gone, we are not giving it to basketball in Victoria. We will do our best to get that number as close to zero as possible, and you will never get another dime from the Victorian government again’,’ Bogut alleged in the podcast.
‘He [Lemanis] came to the group. [He] said this is the situation we are dealing with … he said ‘if we don’t let Ben play in these two games we are losing funding for grassroots’.
‘He said ‘I can’t have on my soul in my heart, I can’t have that I have taken away from young kids’ development … I am letting Ben play’.
‘We came to an agreement where we said ‘let’s just play him the start of each half’ … and let’s treat the next 10 minutes of each half as kind of the regular rotations for what the World Cup would be’.’