Andrew Bogut didn't play one second of the NBA title-clinching game, but it didn't matter.
The Australian centre, with an NBA Championship cap on his head and champagne bottle spraying out of his right hand, celebrated wildly with Golden State Warriors team-mates after they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 on Tuesday to claim the title.
It was the San Francisco Bay area club's first championship in 40 years.
"This is what you play in this league for," said Bogut, spraying team-mates, coaching staff, reporters and camera men in the Warriors' locker room.
"It's unbelievable."
Bogut joins an elite group of Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Patty Mills and Aron Baynes as Australians who have won an NBA title.
The Melbourne-born 10-year NBA veteran and 2005 No.1 draft pick could have been upset that Warriors coach Steve Kerr left him on the bench for the decisive game six of the series in Cleveland.
But, that's not the way the Warriors roll.
At the start of the season Kerr, a five-time champion as a player with Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs, made a surprise move and pulled former All-Star swingman Andre Iguodala out of the Warriors' starting line-up.
When another All-Star David Lee came back from injury he also was sent to the bench.
Iguodala and Lee didn't complain and stuck to their roles.
Bogut, with his 213cm frame, had lived up to the Warrior name in playoff series victories over the big, physically-challenging Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.
However, when the Warriors trailed the Cavaliers' 2-1 in the Finals, Kerr made another bold move by pulling Bogut out and inserting Iguodala into a smaller, mobile three-point-shooting starting lineup.
The Warriors didn't lose again, with Bogut playing less than three minutes in the game four win and remaining on the bench for games five and six.
"We have a team full of believers," said Iguodala, who was crowned the NBA Finals MVP.
The NBA season MVP Stephen Curry and Iguodala both scored 25 points in the decider.
"It's what we envisioned from the start of the season," Curry said.
The Cavaliers were undermanned after losing two All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to injury during the playoffs.
As he was all through the playoffs, LeBron James was herculean for the Cavaliers in the final game with 32 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, but needed help from his team-mates that didn't come.
The Cavaliers' Australian point guard Matthew Dellavedova had a disappointing game, taking only three shots and missing all of them.
His only point was from a free throw.
Dellavedova's future with the Cavaliers' is unknown, with his contract ending.
After a heroic game three in the Finals, Dellavedova never recaptured that form and his stock with other clubs may have fallen.
Dellavedova and Bogut will be team-mates on the Australian team when they take on New Zealand in a two-game Olympic qualifying series in August.
Share
