Luc Longley calls it "friction and acceptance".
It's the idea of opposing forces -- or lifestyles, or ideologies, or sentiments -- coming together, only to realise and accept that there's an assimilability there if you're open to it.
That's the best way to describe the relationship Longley and fellow Australian basketball luminary Andrew Bogut have had over the past two decades, and it's the foundation of Lane Violation, a new documentary that premieres on ESPN on June 11.
The film explores Bogut's storied career, from his time growing up in Melbourne, his rise through the University of Utah, and the ups and downs of an NBA career that featured everything from a championship to career-defining injuries. It all culminates in the next phase of Bogut's basketball journey, which will be his first stint on the sidelines, as an assistant coach with the Sydney Kings.
What's unique, though, is that it's a documentary driven by Longley. Bogut visits Longley's large but minimalist, reception-less sanctuary in Denmark, Western Australia -- about a five-hour drive south of Perth -- giving the audience the opportunity to see two of the country's most successful sporting exports in as stripped back an environment that exists in Australia.
"Having him there was important to me because the idea was to make him uncomfortable and strip him back a little bit, because he's got the armour," Longley told ESPN. "We wanted to take away some of that and find the soft bit. We did, I think."
It was important for Longley to be a character in this story. He's, of course, in the storytelling arc of his life, coming off the success of his 'Australian Story' film, but the 56-year-old also felt his own context provided value in how best to learn about Bogut.
"Me and Bogues are so different, and so much the same, all at the same time," Longley said.
"I wanted that to come across in the film. I wanted people to see that. Friction and acceptance. You don't have to be at opposite ends... that's part of being on teams, too; you can't always pick the characters, but you find the bits you like in them.
"Why am I in it? I guess, to give context to Bogues. My own context."
The film covers all the bases of Bogut's career, from the stories most are familiar with, to some that may have gotten lost in history.
The smart aleck, trouble-making Bogut is on full display. The big-man talks about trying to fight with his abrasive Utah head coach, Rick Majerus, and his infamous shot at Longley ahead of being the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft is explored and resolved. We see his rise from a good college athlete to the best player in the country, and navigate through his long NBA career, from being the man in Milwaukee, the injuries, arriving in Golden State and winning a title, before finishing his career in the NBL.
Longley's goal was to learn more about the life and career of Bogut. The pair are both part owners of the Sydney Kings in the NBL and have always been connected as Australia's two most successful big-men, but a rocky start to their relationship delayed what would ultimately become a fruitful -- though, still competitive -- friendship.
Ultimately, in having Bogut at his home, Longley found a greater appreciation for his counterpart, discovering an "Olympic-level adaptor" he hadn't witnessed before.
"It took filming the film to see that side of Bogues the way I do now," Longley said.
"For whatever reason, he chose to let us in... Whereas in the ownership scenario in basketball, he's more black and white, and more deliberate. Getting him relaxed and out of his comfort zone worked. It was a gamble, it worked.
"When we came up with the idea, I was sceptical, but it was actually Bogues' -- believe it or not -- openness and malleability that allowed it to happen."
That adaptability, as Longley calls it, will be on show as Bogut steps into the coaching phase of his career for the first time.
"I begged him to come and coach, so I didn't have to look at his six-foot texts after every game: 'why did we, why didn't we?'," Longley said. "I literally picked up the phone and said, 'for f---- sake, coach'."
While the film weaves through the life and career of Bogut, while searching for deeper truths of him as a person as he's out of his comfort zone, the underlying reality of the entire story is that this is an elite basketball player with a unique ability to see the game.
Bogut will be on the sidelines for the first time as an assistant coach with the Kings going into the 2025-26 NBL season, alongside head coach Brian Goorjian who, as well as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, offer substantial praise of the big-man's basketball IQ in the film.
"What I want people to take away from this doco is to be excited about going with Andrew on his coaching journey, and seeing how he evolves, how his coaching comes together," Longley said.
"You heard Steve Kerr in there say he's one of the brightest basketball minds he's ever coached. That's my observation, too; he's incredibly sharp. Seeing how that translates then to relating to players... how that goes for him, because he's quite abrupt and can be abrasive. How that plays out, I think people are gonna have a lot of fun watching him.
"If it goes the way I think it'll go, I think he's gonna be a very, very good coach for a very long time, and Australian basketball people can go on that ride with him starting today.
"Making this film has made me, and I think other people around it, much, much more confident this is a good decision. I actually think Bogues would probably say the same thing."
This was Longley's first foray driving a story about someone else. Bogut was always an obvious choice as the subject, given the pair's current relationship as colleagues, and how inherently connected they've been over the past 20 years.
What's interesting is Longley's unique lifestyle was originally his way of getting away from the bright lights, where he can escape the noise and exist in his sanctuary that's effectively on the most south-western point of Australia. That acreage inadvertently turned into the perfect breeding ground for telling this story; the opportunity for friction and acceptance, for an outsider entering that space. And it's something we're probably going to see more of.
"Being back in the game and helping to grow and drive the sport has given me a lot of joy," Longley said.
"I also really enjoyed the experiences before, making my own doco. ESPN and Hahn approached me about doing some storytelling, which I haven't done before, but I was intrigued to do. We all take on new things. I started to think about interesting stories in Australian basketball and, for me, Bogues' story is intriguing, in a bunch of ways: the way we overlap, the way his character's misrepresented at the same time as being accurate.
"Really, for me, it's just an adventure; something new, something I haven't done, and something I think gives back to the sport."
Lane Violation premieres on 11th June, at 8pm, exclusively on ESPN. Following its initial premiere, the documentary will be available on-demand via Kayo Sports and Disney +.