Sydney Kings majority owner Paul Smith is rarely short of a word, but he paused for a moment when asked what Luc Longley brings to the NBL franchise.
"His presence," Smith said, before pausing again.
"His ability to navigate circumstances, deal with situations -- all of those things. You see it really come out when we get into the Xs and Os and player recruitment. What he brings is another perspective and I think that's critical."
The Australian basketball legend and three-time NBA champion has solidified his role with the Kings, with the club bringing him into the ownership group after working with the franchise since 2019.
"My ownership stake is a reward for service," Longley told ESPN. "It's awesome the Kings have seen value in having someone like me around, an ex-player whose got runs on the board and looks at things a bit differently. To be rewarded by being put in the ownership group, I'm proud of it. It won't change how I operate very much but it's good to be back shoulder deep instead of waist deep."
Longley forms part of a front office and ownership group that boasts decades of experience in basketball across all roles. Andrew Bogut is a former NBA champion and minority owner in the club, and Chase Buford, who is forming a formidable head coaching record in his own right, is the son of R.C. Buford, one of the most successful front office executives in the NBA over decades with the San Antonio Spurs. Additionally, CEO Chris Pongrass spent five seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies in a variety of front office roles.
"It certainly helps," Longley responded when asked of the advantage the Kings have with their NBA connections.
"We have a lot of voices and a lot of different angles. That range of opinions and thoughts that are dynamic, it's what you want. What we've done here is put together an eclectic band of people and I'm sure we'll get it wrong sometimes but I'm sure we have lots of different voices in the room."
Adding Smith to the mix in weekly zoom calls to break down key decisions on and off the court, the group don't shy away from the fact opinions clash and heavy debate ensues.
"We have it out. The healthy part is that we do disagree," Smith explained. "At the end of the day, we respect each other's opinions and we listen to each other. We all play to each other's strengths. We don't need a room full of shrinking violets, but we also don't want everyone to be the same.
"There are some healthy egos in the room but that's f---ing good, I love it. You can disagree without being disagreeable, there needs to be a healthy tension in the room and we have that."
Unsurprisingly, Longley enjoys the competitive nature of Smith, with the pair building a healthy relationship during his time in Sydney.
"One of my roles was to bring Paul up the basketball curve and challenge," Longley said. "We don't need a dictator, especially one that has deep basketball roots. His basketball knowledge has come a long way, his business side speaks for itself. It gets heated at times, but what Paul is great at is that he doesn't take it personal. Sometimes he and I go at it but it's always in good spirit."
The defending champions appear to have nailed their roster decisions for the second consecutive year. Though last year, they admit that leaning on connections played a major role.
Buford had a prior relationship with eventual MVP Jaylen Adams, having coached the electric guard with the Wisconsin Herd in the G League. Midseason signing Ian Clark was a shock addition to outsiders at the time, with Bogut completing the required due diligence on his former teammate with the Golden State Warriors.
"Clark was an interesting one," Smith recalled.
"He came in midseason, hadn't had a great experience in China, he could have been dinged up. 'Bogues' rang him and asked him how he was doing and told us he was good to go. That's the part where you think, f---, how good is that. You have a teammate make a call and you know you're solid. That's when it's at its zenith. Beyond that, we're all kissing frogs and looking for princesses. You get them occasionally; you get better at it."
Twelve months prior to winning the title, the Kings once again leaned on those connections, with the club making moves after parting ways with head coach Adam Forde.
Extending the search far and wide, the club had organised a call with a former teammate of Longley's from the Chicago Bulls. Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen joined a meeting with the Kings ownership group to discuss the idea of a coaching role with the club.
"Scottie was one of the guys we spoke to for a coaching role here," Longley recalled.
"It would have been a complex one, he doesn't have a lot of coaching experience, but I do know what his basketball brain is like. He would have been good at capturing the imaginations of the group and leading them. We would have had to put good local support around him, but we agreed the time wasn't now. I think Scottie will start his coaching journey somewhere but while his kids are still young, he might stay in the States."
In the ensuing months, Buford became available and was hired by the club after finishing a championship run with the Milwaukee Bucks. In his first season on the sideline the team snapped a 17-year championship drought.
In the current day, the Kings are preparing to travel to New Zealand for a Thursday evening matchup this week, with Longley telling ESPN that he won't travel, with part of his role already including preparations for next offseason, when the annual player movement period heats up.
"The only way you win this championship is having the balance between strong locals and you top it up with the firepower of the imports," Smith said.
"That's the art of all this and that's where Luc's great, he has a strong feel for locals, he knows where they are at and can balance that against what Chase wants and needs. The number of players we reviewed is frightening. Anyone who thinks we just take the first players who walk through the checkout aisle. No way."
While scouting and recruiting is a big part of Longley's day-to-day with the team, his ability to work closely with young developing players has been consistently praised by those on the inside. Last season, he took Next Star Makur Makur under his wing, with the talented big man shaking off a slow start to the season to play valuable minutes in the postseason.
"Luc taught me a valuable lesson, he told me it's not about being around when you're winning, it's about being around when you're losing," Smith recalled.
"Luc comes into his own when someone's struggling, when someone is off the pace, fallen out of favour, not being understood. Makur Maker didn't get off to a great start, Luc told me he was taking the kid on and giving it a shot. He said: 'imagine if this kid is playing well in the finals?'"
For Longley, those projects provide him with maximum fulfillment.
"I have a dream role. I get to cherry pick the things that I think I can help with, that suit what I'm good at," Longley said. "Makur was an opportunity where I thought I could help, Makur let me help and I was able to lean into that. I'm not trying to make complicated commercial decisions because quite frankly I'm not that interested in that. I'm interested in the basketball, the people, I get to do that.
"My role is an unconventional, slightly hard to describe role. I've just enjoyed being back around it, I've been around the NBL a long time, before I went to the NBA and after, I like the league, I think it's a great entertainment product. It's thrilling, I like being around teams, I think being around a bunch of people trying to achieve something is really fun and I missed that. I came in with Will Weaver, the Kings provided that environment for me, I work hard, I enjoy it and it's rewarding."
With wins on the court, big crowds and big names in the front office, Smith doesn't shy away from the recent success, declaring the Kings a destination club of the league.
"What I like most is that people want to come here now. That's what I'm most proud of," he said. "That goes from Luc joining the ownership group to the import that comes and takes less money, to Aussies that are saying to our guys that they are interested in what we're doing. I know that for a fact. There are players out there that want to be in the program. That's what I'm proud of.
"There's no formula to this. People think you add two eggs, some flour, some milk, sugar, shake it up, bake it and you get a cake. It's not like that. You can't recreate this. From day one I said we will not be led by anyone else; we will decide what works for us.
"It's completely different to anyone else. You can't copy it, that's the beauty of what we've got. It can disappear quickly, the pieces can fall off and we'll have to rebuild again, but we're striving for stability as in consistency."
For now, at least, it's all ticking along nicely for the Kings, but what ultimately matters most to Longley is another championship for Buford's squad.
"We've been lucky, we've probably leant on our championship experience and momentum a bit this year, I don't think we're as good as first in the league at the moment," Longley conceded. I think we've got a lot of improvement; I think the rest of the league would be looking at us and thinking, 'I hope they don't get their s--- together'.
"But we will get our s--- together."
Catch Luc Longley on The Jump with Andrew Gaze and Lanard Copeland -- Wednesday night 8:30 p.m AEDT, live on ESPN.
