NBA legend Andrew Bogut's neighbour says she's struggling after she was accused of stabbing his child's basketball and throwing it at the youngster in a bitter backyard dispute.

The row has blown up over a basketball hoop mounted on the external wall of the neighbour's $500-a-week one-bedroom rental home, at the back of Bogut's $3.8million mansion.

Neighbours of the warring pair have blasted the battle - which has erupted into a full-blown legal fight - as 'over the top ... escalation'.

Police have now applied for an Apprehended Violence Order to protect the 213cm Sydney Kings staffer from his diminutive chef neighbour, Michaela Newby.

Distraught-looking Ms Newby told the Daily Mail on Wednesday she was 'not really' okay because of the effect of the stressful legal row, and added: 'I don't want to comment.'

It followed Bogut's rant on Instagram this week which alleged his child's $30 basketball was 'stabbed... with a knife' after it bounced over the fence. 

'Maybe a neighbour stabbed an 8-year-old's basketball with a knife then threw it at their head,' he posted.

He also disputed claims that anyone had been 'bouncing a ball for hours'.

One of Australia's greatest basketball players also claimed that 'a neighbour ... further threatened an 8-year-old child. Amazing what cameras pick up right?'

Daily Mail does not suggest the allegations are fact, just that Bogut had made them. 

Ms Newby, 53, did not appear at Newtown Local Court on Wednesday as police have not yet served her with the AVO application naming Bogut as a 'person in need of protection' (PINOP). She has not been charged with anything. 

She spoke to the Daily Mail through the door of her ground floor flat.

It is one of three low-cost housing rentals adjoining Bogut's newly refurbished Victorian Italianate house in the inner west suburb of Enmore. 

The warfare between Bogut and Ms Newby reportedly stems from the noise of basketballs hitting the hoop and backboard on the wall adjoining her flat in the afternoons, when she was trying to sleep after work shifts as a chef. 

Ms Newby had reportedly complained about how the thumping and banging of the balls resounded through her wall. 

The dispute reportedly flared up after one ball in Bogut's backyard went over the fence into Ms Newby's yard and was allegedly returned damaged. 

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.

'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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