Who is Patty Mills?
Patty Mills is an Australian basketball guard who has played in the NBA for well over a decade and starred for the Boomers. He won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.
Born in Canberra in 1988, Mills has Torres Strait Islander heritage through his father and Aboriginal heritage through his mother. He trained at the Australian Institute of Sport before playing college basketball at Saint Mary's in California.
Mills was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2009 and joined the San Antonio Spurs in 2012. As an energetic player off the bench, he was a key part of the Spurs' 2014 championship team. He later played for the Brooklyn Nets and other NBA clubs.
Boomers hero
At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, Mills led the Boomers to a bronze medal, Australia's first Olympic medal in men's basketball. He scored 42 points in the bronze medal game against Slovenia.
Mills was the first Indigenous Australian to carry the national flag at an Olympic opening ceremony, sharing the role with swimmer Cate Campbell in Tokyo.
He is known for community work and for promoting Indigenous culture through sport.
Did You Know?
Mills donated his salary from the 2020 NBA restart to Black Lives Matter and Indigenous causes.