A neighbour of NBA great Andrew Bogut says the fallout from a bitter backyard dispute has left her struggling, after she was accused of damaging his child’s basketball with a knife and throwing it at the youngster.
The argument centres on a basketball hoop fixed to the outside wall of a $500-a-week, one-bedroom rental property located behind Bogut’s $3.8 million home.
Other residents have described the dispute, which has now developed into a legal battle, as an excessive escalation.
Police have applied for an Apprehended Violence Order seeking protection for the 213cm Sydney Kings staffer from his much shorter neighbour, chef Michaela Newby.
Appearing distressed, Ms Newby told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that she was “not really” okay because of the strain caused by the court dispute. She declined to comment further, saying: “I don’t want to comment.”
Her comments came after Bogut claimed on Instagram that his eight-year-old child’s $30 basketball had been damaged with a knife after bouncing over the dividing fence.
“Maybe a neighbour stabbed an 8-year-old’s basketball with a knife then threw it at their head,” he wrote.
Bogut also rejected suggestions that the ball had been repeatedly bounced for hours.
NBA great Andrew Bogut’s neighbour says she is finding it difficult to cope after being accused of stabbing his child’s basketball and throwing it at the youngster during a bitter backyard dispute
The hoop beside a small backyard court is attached to a wall shared with the Boguts’ $3.8 million mansion. The 53-year-old tenant of the neighbouring one-bedroom flat says the dispute has cost her sleep
The once-run-down terrace, which previously contained eight cramped bedsits beside a busy traffic route, has been transformed into the Boguts’ Italianate residence, complete with marble kitchens and bathrooms and double glazing
The former basketball star also alleged that “a neighbour … further threatened an 8-year-old child”, adding: “Amazing what cameras pick up, right?”
The Daily Mail has not presented those claims as established fact and reports only that Bogut made the allegations.
Ms Newby, 53, was not present at Newtown Local Court on Wednesday because police had not yet served her with the AVO application. The document identifies Bogut as the “person in need of protection” (PINOP). Ms Newby has not been charged with any offence.
She spoke with the Daily Mail from behind the door of her ground-floor apartment.
The property is one of three affordable rental homes next to Bogut’s recently renovated Victorian Italianate residence in Enmore, in Sydney’s inner west.
The conflict reportedly began with the repeated sound of basketballs striking the hoop and backboard attached to the wall beside Ms Newby’s flat. The noise was said to be particularly disruptive in the afternoons, when she was attempting to sleep after working shifts as a chef.
According to reports, Ms Newby complained that the constant thudding and banging travelled through the shared wall and echoed inside her home.
Tensions are believed to have intensified when a basketball from Bogut’s yard cleared the fence into Ms Newby’s property and was allegedly returned damaged.
Police have applied for an Apprehended Violence Order to protect 213cm Sydney Kings staffer Andrew Bogut from his shorter neighbour, chef Michaela Newby
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A tale of two cities: 53-year-old chef Michaela Newby’s Enmore backyard behind the one-bedroom flat that she rents is in marked contrast to the $3.8m mansion owned by the Boguts
Neighbours of both told the Daily Mail they also heard basketball sessions between Bogut, his two young children and, on weekends, visitors, and said they lasted ‘about 15 to 20 minutes’.
The stark difference between the two neighbouring properties, the Bogut residence and Ms Newby’s modest accommodation, is like a tale of two cities.
Andrew and Jessica Bogut live in a property that was until 2021 a cheap boarding house with eight squalid $250-a-week bedsits on one of Sydney’s busiest streets in Enmore, which thunders with heavy traffic, buses and trucks.
Over the last five years, a builder gutted and developed the 19th-century three-storey house into a luxury marble-lined mansion protected from traffic noise by double glazing, with the Boguts buying it last year.
Since moving in, the Boguts have installed a basketball hoop and built a mini basketball court, or ‘hoop court’.
Residents told the Daily Mail that the couple were ‘good neighbours’, and wife Jessica was ‘very nice’ with well-behaved children.
One local said she thought the alleged actions from both sides were extreme.
‘I think it’s over the top … but I also think it’s over the top to take out an AVO,’ she said.
Bogut forged a career playing in the NBA for multiple teams across the US and won a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015
‘And if you threw the ball back over the fence from next door you wouldn’t be able to see who might be underneath and if it would strike anyone like a child.’
She said that she hadn’t heard a reported angry verbal exchange between the two sides on Sunday, adding: ‘You can hear everything in these old houses.’
But she said there had been ‘absolutely no basketball’ practice or use of the hoop in the Boguts’ backyard since the fallout between the player and Ms Newby.
On his Instagram page Bogut, 41, who represented Australia at three Olympic Games, asked followers to think about why he would ‘bother’ going to the police.
Police are also reportedly investigating accusations of malicious damage.
Bogut forged a career playing in the NBA for multiple teams across the US and won a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015.
He returned to play for the Sydney Kings and was named NBL Most Valuable Player for the 2018-19 season. He is now the Sydney Kings’ assistant coach.
Judge Alexander Mijovich adjourned the AVO matter until November 18 at Newtown.
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