As predicted, Melbourne’s Andrew Bogut was chosen this morning by the Milwaukee Bucks as the NBA’s number one
draft pick – a first for Australian basketball.

His
selection makes him an instant millionaire with his agent SFX already
claiming
he would walk away with more than $100 million in earnings from his
career, including $15 million during his first three years.

“I
need to check my heart for a murmur right now,” Bogut said as he sat down at
the podium desk to be interviewed. “I’m just taking a deep breath… but this is
a dream come true.”

Milwaukee general manager, Larry
Harris, said of their choice: “We knew Andrew was
our guy. We just felt with Andrew that he was a guy who could step in right
away. Adding the quality and competitor in Andrew Bogut to our centre will
lift us.”

Commentator Jay
Balis declared him “a no-brainer number one,” while another, Stephen A Smith,
predicted that Bogut would have a
tough rookie year, but there was no question he deserved to be number one
pick. “He is a complete player – and a perfect selection and is going to play
NBA for an awfully long time and be knocking on the door of All-Star
selection.”

Bogut’s
picture dominated the ESPN website homepage prior to its live broadcast and you can listen to the latest Bogut draft audio and video links including
his pre-draft view of himself when he protests “I’m not a big white stiff!”