Andrew Bogut has told how he went out to dinner with a homesick Jarryd Hayne soon after the former rugby league player landed in San Francisco.
Bogut, the 213cm Melbourne-born centre for the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors, and Sydney's Hayne, the rookie punt-returner for the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, have become two of the Californian city's biggest stars.
Bogut, despite all of his accomplishments including being a No.1 NBA Draft pick, was full of praise for Hayne.
"A lot of people here don't realise he's the equivalent to our LeBron James or Kobe Bryant," Bogut, talking to US reporters at the Warriors' media day, said.
"He's that big in Australia.
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"He is one of the best rugby players in the world.
"It's like one of the best players in a sport leaving to play tennis."
Earlier this year when Hayne landed in San Francisco he went to dinner with Bogut and detailed the stress of attempting to learn the complex plays and intricacies of the NFL.
"He was very homesick at that point," Bogut said.
"He was telling me about the playbook, 'I can't get my head around it. The stuff is so hard. Every night before I go to bed, I study it. I feel like I'm back in high school'."
Hayne went to watch a Warriors playoff game on their march toward claiming the NBA title and Bogut and his teammates plan on watching the 49ers play the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium on Sunday.
"I couldn't be more happy or proud of what he's doing," Bogut said.
"It's the feel-good story of the year, in my opinion."
Bogut and his teammates have returned to training on Monday, looking defend the NBA title they captured just 15 weeks ago.
In that time, Bogut helped Australia qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"It feels like the championship parade was last Tuesday," Bogut added. "It's been a busy summer for everybody but I wouldn't change it for the world."
