Shane Heal and his former basketball mentor, Brett Brown, are locked in a battle on a court of a different kind with the Australian sporting great accused of defrauding the NBA coach of $750,000.
Their one-time friendship in a 20-year association and financial dealings came under the spotlight in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday with Heal facing three fraud charges.
![Shane Heal (right) with then-coach Brett Brown in 2000, when both were with the Sydney Kings.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170729164923im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/d/u/f/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwe9xf.png/1495789710723.jpg)
The four-time Olympian and ex-NBL star was charged last year following an ASIC investigation relating to alleged misconduct in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
He is accused of defrauding current Philadelphia 76ers NBA coach Brown of $750,000 when he was as sole director of three companies.
![Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170729164923im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/c/l/m/i/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwe9xf.png/1495789710601.jpg)
Sporting his trademark bleach-blond hair, Heal appeared in court for a committal hearing on Friday.
He previously worked as assistant coach of Australia's national team under Brown, the only complainant in the case, from 2009 to 2011.
At the hearing, defence barrister Peter Davis, QC, questioned Brown about his investments in the 46-year-old's business ventures, as well as their personal and professional history.
The court heard Brown first met Heal in 1988 but got to know him better throughout the 1990s including when he coached him at the Sydney Kings.
![Brett Brown and Shane Heal](http://web.archive.org./web/20170729164923im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/s/w/f/7/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwe9xf.png/1495789710393.jpg)
Mr Davis questioned how Brown came to invest $250,000 in one of Heal's companies, so it could in turn acquire a franchise to build a coffee shop in Southport.
The 76ers coach said while he was not given any legal title over Heal's residence, there was an understanding the property's equity would secure the loan.
"I did not feel I was taking a risk, because of the home," Brown said.
"My comfort level was with the home - the equity in the home".
But asked if there was anything in the loan documents that provided the money had to be used for a particular purpose, Brown said: "I assumed that the money was going to be used for what Shane told me it was going to be used for".
As he was pressed on details of agreements made over the $250,000 loan, Brown said he felt he was lending money to Heal personally, even if the legal particulars were otherwise.
"Because it was a friend that I had for 25 years," Brown told the court.
This followed a suggestion from Mr Davis their arrangements were "not some handshake deal between friends".
It was heard Brown ultimately lent two other lots of $250,000, drawn from $1 million he made from the sale of a property.
These other loans related to a construction company that would fit out shops and another entity related to a burger franchise, it was heard.
At the time, Heal was the sole director of the three companies involved - Shyfox Pty Ltd, Cre8ive Constructions Queensland Pty Ltd and 23 Investments Pty Ltd - which are all now deregistered.
Heal's sporting career included two stints in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is pursuing the matter, which will return to court on July 20.
AAP