How Luc Longley has become the team's 'sensei'

You’ll ever only come across a handful of people in life where when they speak, everyone else listens.

Luc Longley is one of those people.

It’s a stark contrast at practice, the sounds of shoes squeaking against the court and the voice of Chase Buford yelling plays often echoes so loudly you can’t hear anything else in the Kings facility.  

But when Longley speaks the court immediately becomes quiet, you could hear a pin drop as the three-time NBA Champion and Kings’ special assistant has something, anything to say.

He often lurks on the baselines of the courts; sneaking onto the court as the scrimmage travels to the other side to test if his trusty hook shot still works. Or he'll do a Mikan Drill between group huddles.

Longley almost seems impatient and fidgety as he watches practice, spinning a basketball in his hands and watches from the stands like a 7’2, curly-headed owl. But the 53-year-old with an extensive injury history knows he'll probably hurt himself trying to keep up with this run and gun group. 

Where Longley can assist most is in his knowledge and experience. He has personally mentored some of the young Kings bigs over the past few years, like last season’s NBL Most Improved Player runner-up Jordan Hunter and NBL Next-Star Makur Maker this season. 

Andrew Webster described Longley’s work with Maker this season as his “pet project” in the Sydney Morning Herald last week.

The Kings have a young group, with close to half of the team having no professional post-regular season experience. This is a part of the reason why NBA Champion Ian Clark’s introduction mid-season has been such a positive on and off the court.

After a Wednesday afternoon practice, Longley pointed out each player who has and hasn't had experience in playoff or finals basketball. He spoke about his own experience with the Chicago Bulls and how they “doubled-down on attention to detail” and why it was so important to stay mentally fresh during their three-peat.

(Longley addressing the group at practice) 

He went around the group, players and coaches, and asked the group what strategies the team had for not becoming mentally fatigued during this intense stretch.

Xavier Cooks explained what it’s like to have Longley’s expertise with the team, telling Kings media that Longley has been the team’s “sensei” all season.

“Anything Luc says everyone comes around and puts their ears down,” Cooks said.

“He’s the sensei, he just does a good job of explaining how to eliminate distractions and all of that kind of stuff. With all of his life experiences that helped him out, those lessons can definitely help us out with such a young core group of guys.

“It means a lot to have him around.”

Longley has been with the team on and off throughout the season, he is based in Western Australia but he will remain with the team for the rest of the NBL Finals run.

With the likes of Longley, Andrew Bogut and the highly decorated coaching staff, the young Kings have a wealth of knowledge to lean on in the bussiness end of the season. 

The Kings will play at home in game two of the NBL Semi-Finals on Sunday, May 1 at 2.45pm. There are limited tickets left; to see the Kings live against the Illawarra Hawks click here.