NBA star Andrew Bogut has revealed Ben Simmons is still bummed by a Boomers snub and has joked that he may have to "guilt trip" the US college star into playing the Rio Olympics.
The 19-year-old Simmons is set to become Australia's second No.1 NBA Draft pick in late June - the first since Bogut in 2005.
The intense lead-up to the draft would make it difficult for the Louisiana State University star to be available for a Boomers selection camp in July.
But Bogut revealed another factor may come into play as the Boomers sweat on the young gun's Rio availability.
"I know he's still a little burned by not making the 2014 (World Cup) team," Bogut told former ESPN analyst Bill Simmons on his popular BS Report podcast.
"I was going to tweet him (about playing Rio).
"He's on Twitter a lot, so I'm going to start having to tweet him weekly and just get some Australian fans to add him and give him the guilt trip."
Boomers fans are already daring to dream of an historic Olympic medal at Rio with six NBA players excluding Dante Exum set to bolster Australia's roster.
But Bogut said he would understand if Simmons was not available after enduring the Draft circus 11 years ago.
"We'll talk to him, but I understand it," the Golden State Warriors star said.
"When I was going through my draft process - it wasn't the Olympics, it was the under-21 world championships - and they were calling me trying to get me to play in it, but with draft workouts and stuff it's tough.
"We know that if he has an opportunity in the future, we're hoping that he'll play."
Mystery may surround Simmons' Rio chances but Bogut was confident the US college star would emerge from the draft scrutiny and become Australia's greatest NBA player.
Bogut said Simmons had hit the gym hard after criticism that the young gun lacked an outside jump shot.
"He's embracing that and I know he's in the gym even more than he was before with all this, with them nitpicking his game," he said.
"He'll continue to work hard and he probably will be the best Australian player to play in the NBA."
Share
