Bogut Is On Draft, Cold Filtered for Milwaukee

Andrew Bogut, the 7-foot Australian who left Utah after his sophomore year for the NBA, is likely to end up in Milwaukee as the No. 1 pick.

Bogut watched the NBA draft lottery with his agent, David Bauman. According to ESPN the Magazine, when the Bucks got the first pick, Bogut asked, “Is Milwaukee as cold as Utah?”

The magazine quoted Bauman saying, “Colder. That’s why I secured the deal with Nike. They make the warmest parkas.”

Trivia time: In the 1979 NBA draft, the Lakers earned the right to pick first by winning a coin toss with the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers selected Magic Johnson. Who was the UCLA player the Bulls took as the No. 2 pick?

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Ring of truth: When Bogut was on FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period” recently, he was asked whether he’d rather have an Olympic gold medal or an NBA championship ring.

“Olympic gold medal,” he said. “I think there’s nothing better than playing for and representing your country.”

Said Gary Payton, who also was on the show: “I’ll loan you one of mine. I’ve got two.”

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Something to brag about? Gerald Green, a 6-foot-7 forward from Gulf Shores Academy in Houston, is one of 11 players in today’s draft who elected to try to go directly from high school to the NBA. Starting next season, players must be 19 or have been out of high school for at least a year before becoming NBA draft-eligible. “Even if I was the sorriest player ever, I can say I was one of the last players taken out of high school,” Green said.

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High on Heels: NBA teams could pick four North Carolina Tar Heels in the first round today. They are Marvin Williams, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants.

The last time four players from the same school were chosen in the first round was in 1999. The four were Duke’s Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Trajan Langdon and William Avery.

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A Finals shot: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle was unimpressed with the recent NBA Finals.

“It was like football without the forward pass, baseball without BALCO, curling without the brooms,” he wrote. “Ballet it wasn’t. But it’s hard to execute a pirouette when you’re wearing a tutu named Ben Wallace.”

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Who wants them? Bay Area reader Janice Hough, suggesting that L.A. city officials are getting adjusted to the name Los Angeles Angels, said, “Apparently they will concede the point if they can also start referring to L.A.’s other team as the Anaheim Dodgers.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1997, Evander Holyfield won a World Boxing Assn. heavyweight title fight against Mike Tyson when Tyson was disqualified in the third round after biting Holyfield’s ears.

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Trivia time: David Greenwood.

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And finally: “After weeks of haggling,” wrote Randy Hill of Foxsports.com, “it has been decided that a prospect must be at least 19 years old for entry into the NBA or the little, black book of L.A. Laker owner Jerry Buss.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.