DALLAS -- Mavericks center Andrew Bogut considers it "laughable" that he's been associated with the political beliefs of the so-called "alt-right" as a result of his Twitter activity.
Bogut has recently followed some accounts related to the alt-right, a white nationalism movement that gained prominence in the 2016 election, though he points out that he also follows accounts tied to the political left.
The outspoken Australian received backlash on social media after a Nov. 24 tweet about "Pizzagate," a hoax conspiracy theory that claimed to tie Hillary Clinton to a child-sex ring run out of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria, a story that began spreading across social media before the election.
If only 1% of this #pizzagate scandal is true, all people involved deserve life in prison (or worse). #sick
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) November 24, 2016
"No one's ever asked my political views. They're far from alt-right, and they're far from crazy left," Bogut told ESPN. "I have things from both parties that I like, and I have things from both parties that I hate. Look, yeah, the Pizzagate stuff [was] pretty stupid. My tweet said, 'If 1 percent of this is true, that's sick.' That's it.
"Everybody is entitled to their opinion of what they think. I'm not going to even defend that. I don't care what people label me. I think once you get defensive and start saying, 'I'm not this' and 'I'm not that,' what's the point of it?"
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the alt-right is a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that "white identity" is being threatened by multicultural forces using political correctness to undermine white civilization. The movement is tied to white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
Bogut understands that there are connotations of racism that come along with being associated with the alt-right, which could be problematic in a league that consists primarily of black players. It has been a subject of discussion among opposing teammates in the visitors locker room at the AmericanAirlines Center at least once this year, with players making the accusations within earshot of media but declining to discuss the issue on the record.
However, Bogut said he is not bothered by such accusations.
"You can be labeled a sexist, you can be labeled a misogynist, you can be labeled anti-this and anti-that. It's someone's opinion. You have every right in this world to label me with what you want to label me. I really don't care."Andrew Bogut
"If I really was that and I was trying to hide it, it would bother me," Bogut said. "That's why I don't give a s---. You can be labeled a sexist, you can be labeled a misogynist, you can be labeled anti-this and anti-that. It's someone's opinion. You have every right in this world to label me with what you want to label me. I really don't care. I'm not going to try to make you lose your job. That's, I think, the beauty of living in Western civilization and America or Australia -- you have the freedom to say what you want.
"I'm not going to go out and defend it, because it's laughable. I've never heard of someone that's accepted by the alt-right that's not born in America, period."
Bogut, who frequently lobbies against political correctness and acknowledges that he enjoys "trolling" on Twitter to provoke reactions from people, chuckled when he pointed out that the alt-right would not accept him as part of their group because he's an immigrant.
"I'm a non-American that's here on a work visa that's [supposedly] pro-America. Does that add up to you?" Bogut said. "I love America. It's a great place. It's given me an opportunity to earn a [lot] of money to do something I love, but does it make sense that an immigrant on a work visa would be wanting to be pro-alt-right? That's what I'm asking. Do you think that alt-right would accept me here? That's my whole point with how stupid that this thing is.
"On Twitter, I've been labeled as alt-right because I've had some tweets about politics. If you look back, I had some shots at Donald Trump in February. I made a joke about being in Oklahoma City the same time he was and saying I'm going to have my green card and passport with me at all times just in case. Then fast-forward seven months later -- I make jokes about Hillary and all of the sudden, it's like, 'He's pro-Donald Trump!' Do your research. Every narrative that fits on social media, you can push. That's why I'm not worried about it."
Bogut said he rejects some alt-right ideologies in part because he can relate to the struggles of minorities in America based on his experiences growing up as the son of Croatian-born parents in Australia.
"My family faced the same things that a lot of people here are," Bogut said. "They didn't speak English, worked in factories, were told to go back where they came from for 15, 20 years straight. I heard the same s--- in school because my last name wasn't a Jones or a Smith, which is a [common] Australian. But no one knows that. No one asks that."