Patty Mills

Patrick Mills

Mills with the Spurs in February 2014
No. 8 – San Antonio Spurs
Position Point guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born 11 August 1988
Canberra, Australia
Nationality Australian
Listed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school Marist College
(Canberra, Australia)
Lake Ginninderra
(Canberra, Australia)
College Saint Mary's (2007–2009)
NBA draft 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career 2009–present
Career history
2009–2011 Portland Trail Blazers
2009–2010 →Idaho Stampede (D-League)
2011 Melbourne Tigers (Australia)
2011–2012 Xinjiang Flying Tigers (China)
2012–present San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Patrick Sammy "Patty" Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Mills is the second Indigenous Australian to play in the NBA (after Nathan Jawai) and the first person of Torres Strait Islander descent.[1][2] Mills was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft after playing college basketball for Saint Mary's College of California. He also played for the Melbourne Tigers of the National Basketball League and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association during the NBA lockout. He signed with the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 and won an NBA championship with them in 2014.

Mills led the 2012 Olympics in scoring when he averaged with 21.2 points per game with the Australian national basketball team, the Boomers.[3]

Early life and career

Mills' father is a Torres Strait Islander from Thursday Island and his mother is an Aboriginal Australian from the Ynunga people of South Australia. He was first exposed to basketball as a four-year-old with The Shadows, an Indigenous Australian team that his parents established.[4] Mills attended Marist College Canberra, where he played a variety of sports in addition to basketball, such as Australian football and athletics, and served as ball boy for the Canberra Cannons of the NBL. During that time, his family developed a close relationship with Cannons' player David Patrick, who would eventually play a key role in Mills' career.[5]

As well as playing basketball, Mills also played underage Australian rules football at a high level. He represented the Australian Capital Territory at the 2004 Under-16 National Championships, and, after being named the tournament's best and fairest player, was pursued by recruiters from the Sydney Swans, an Australian Football League team.[6][7] At the age of 15, Mills was selected for the ACT's under-18 basketball squad to compete in the Australian National Championships. The following year, Mills accepted a full-time basketball scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport. He replaced a player who had dropped out of the program, Scott Pendlebury, who had dropped out to (successfully) pursue an AFL career.[6] He also made a strong impression at the 2005 Australian Olympic Youth Festival, an event considered to be a showcase for future elite sporting talents.[4]

In January 2006, he received the RE Staunton Medal as top player in the Australia under-20 national championships.[8] In April that year, he received more international attention when he was named to the World team of under-20 players that played a US team of the same age group at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis, Tennessee. Mills led the World squad with 6 assists and also added 8 points in a losing effort.[9] He was one of 22 players invited to try out for the Australia squad for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to participate in a Boomers training camp. While he was in training with the Boomers in July, he was named by Basketball Australia as the Junior Male Player of the Year.[8] Mills also had an outstanding 2006 season with the AIS men's team in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), earning him a place on the All-SEABL East men's team and the honour of 2006 SEABL U-21 Australian Youth Player of the Year. He went on to be named the 2006 Basketball Australia Player of the Year, and also received two major awards from Indigenous Australian organisations—The Deadlys Award for Most Promising New Talent in Sport and NAIDOC's National Sportsperson of the Year.[10]

College career

Patty Mills with Saint Mary's in 2008.

Mills signed with Saint Mary's College of California during the NCAA national early signing period in November 2006. Although he was pursued by several other NCAA Division I schools such as Utah (where Andrew Bogut played before coming to the NBA), Wake Forest, Alabama, and Nebraska (where he would have joined fellow Australian Aleks Marić), he came to Saint Mary's, indicating that he was comfortable with the Gaels' head coach Randy Bennett.[11] Also, just prior to the 2006–07 season, Bennett had hired Mills' old family friend, David Patrick, as an assistant coach.[5][12] Mills became the fifth Australian that Bennett successfully recruited since arriving at St. Mary's in 2001. One of the other Australians to have played under Bennett at Saint Mary's was fellow AIS old boy Daniel Kickert, the Gaels' all-time leading scorer.[10]

Mills also followed in Kickert's footsteps in another way, becoming the first freshman to start for the Gaels since Kickert did so in the 2002–03 season.[13] He first broke into the American basketball consciousness in his fourth game of the 2007–08 season, when he scored 37 points to lead the Gaels to an upset of nationally ranked Oregon on 20 November 2007.[14] The win also validated pre-season expectations for the Gaels, who were picked before the season to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind traditional conference power Gonzaga.[14] The Gaels went on to start the season 7–0 and earn their first national ranking since 1989.[15] The Gaels also won the 2007 edition of the Rainbow Classic, an annual eight-team December tournament hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi, with Mills being named tournament MVP.[16]

St. Mary's was nationally ranked for most of the season, ultimately finishing second in WCC regular-season play to Gonzaga. After the regular season, Mills was named WCC Newcomer of the Year and also made the All-WCC first team. At the end of the regular season, Mills was the second-leading freshman scorer in the WCC at 14.4 points per game, and also led all WCC freshmen in assists (3.47 per game) and steals (1.80 per game).[17] The Gaels went on to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the first round to Miami (FL). In that game, Mills' 24 points made him the only Gael to score in double figures, and he also led the Gaels with 5 assists.[18] Despite the 19-hour time difference between Mills' hometown of Canberra and the U.S. West Coast, Australian television showed Gaels games live.[15]

In 2008–09, Mills was named to the All-WCC first team for the second year in a row after averaging 18.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game.[19]

NBA career

Portland Trail Blazers

In April 2009, Mills entered the 2009 NBA draft, waiting until the final minutes of the deadline before making the decision.[20] He was selected with the 55th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.

During practice for the NBA Summer League, he suffered a fracture in his right foot, and required surgery.[21] He signed with the Blazers in October 2009 after speculation of whether he would be signed at all due to the injury and the number of point guards already on the roster.[22]

After completing rehabilitation from surgery on his foot in December, Mills was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League on December 29.[23] In his debut with Idaho, he scored 38 points and added 12 assists and 3 rebounds.[24] After one more game with the Stampede, in which he scored the game-winning basket,[25] Mills made his NBA debut for the Trail Blazers on 4 January 2010. In just under 5 minutes, he registered 2 assists but scored no points.[26] On 13 January 2010, he was again assigned to the Stampede, before being recalled ten days later.[27]

NBA lockout

Patrick Mills, playing for the Melbourne Tigers.

On 29 August 2011, during the 2011 NBA lockout, Mills signed with the Melbourne Tigers for the 2011–12 NBL season.[28] On 7 October, he suited up for the Tigers' first home game against the Sydney Kings in Round 1, scoring 28 points and leading the Tigers to an 82–76 win in the inaugural Capital City Clash.

On 20 November 2011, Mills signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of China, parting ways with the Tigers after nine games.[29][30] He finished his short NBL stint with averages of 18.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.[31] On 4 January 2012, he was released by Xinjiang for allegedly faking a hamstring injury.[32][33] In 12 games for Xinjiang, he averaged 26.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

San Antonio Spurs

Mills playing against John Wall in 2014.

On 27 March 2012, Mills signed with the San Antonio Spurs.[34] On 26 April 2012, Mills set career highs with 34 points and 12 assists for his first NBA double-double in the Spurs' 107–101 win over the Golden State Warriors.[35] Mills also surpassed Andrew Bogut's record for most points in a single NBA game by an Australian.[36]

On 13 July 2012, Mills re-signed with the Spurs on a multi-year deal.[37] In 58 games, Mills averaged 5.1 points and 1.1 assists per game in 2012–13. Mills and the Spurs reached the 2013 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, but they would lose the series in seven games. Mills was inactive for the last three games of the NBA Finals after having foot surgery.

On 24 June 2013, Mills exercised his player option to return to the Spurs for the 2013–14 season.[38] Mills averaged 10.2 points that season as the Spurs went on to win the NBA championship, defeating the Miami Heat 4-1 in the NBA Finals. In Game 5 of the Finals, Mills scored a playoff career-high 17 points, including 14 points in the third quarter, as the Spurs clinched the series.

Despite being ruled out for seven months due to a shoulder injury,[39] Mills re-signed with the Spurs on 12 July 2014.[40] He went on to recover quicker than expected as he made his return on 28 December 2014 in the Spurs' 110-106 win over the Houston Rockets. In just over 20 minutes of action, he recorded 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.[41]

International career

Mills playing for Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

After repeating as Staunton Medallist in 2007,[42] Mills completed his scholarship with the AIS and opted to play for Saint Mary's. Before arriving in the Bay Area in August 2007, he played for Australia at the FIBA U-19 World Championship in Serbia, in which Australia finished fifth. He was then called up to the Boomers in July 2007, making his debut against Austria on 31 July in an international friendly tournament in Bormio, Italy. Mills scored 11 points off the bench and was credited with changing the complexion of the match, which Australia won 84–63.[43] This not only made him one of the youngest Boomers ever,[44] but also made him only the third Indigenous Australian, after Michael Ah Mat in the 1960s and Danny Morseu in the 1980s, to play for the Boomers.[1] Mills went on to make the Boomers squad for the FIBA Oceania Championship, which doubled as a qualifier for the 2008 Olympics. His main highlight in the competition, which was a three-match series against Australia's trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, came in the second and ultimately deciding match. Mills came off the bench to score 17 points, helping lead the Boomers to a 93–67 rout of the Tall Blacks that punched their ticket to Beijing.[11]

Mills was a member of the Australian squad that gave the USA Basketball team its closest tune-up game of the summer before the Beijing Olympics. The United States beat Australia 87–76 in its exhibition game in Shanghai, China. Australia's star player, Andrew Bogut, did not play because of a sore right ankle. Mills, the youngest player on the floor, was impressive as he added 13 points for the Australian squad.

Mills averaged a team-best 14.2 points, all off the bench, in the six games the Aussies played in Beijing. He scored 20 points in a quarterfinal loss to the United States, with three assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 28 minutes.

At the London International Basketball Invitational, the Boomers lost a tight contest to France, 71–67. Playing against NBA star Tony Parker, Mills scored a team high 20 points. The following game against Croatia, Mills led the Boomers to a 78–66 win, scoring a game high 22 points. Mills scored a tournament high 39 against Great Britain.[45]

At the 2012 Olympic basketball tournament, Mills had the highest scoring average with 21.2 points per game, ahead of Kevin Durant of the United States, who averaged 19.5 points per game.[3]

Three goggles

Mills (center) strikes a three goggles pose with two fans.

During the 2010–11 NBA season, Mills and teammate Rudy Fernández created a trend in which certain Blazers formed the "A-OK" sign with each hand and placed them over their eyes after making a three-point shot. The gesture was meant to resemble a pair of goggles with three fingers in the air to reference the shot just made. When Fernández would struggle with his three-pointers, Mills used to joke that he needed help seeing. After knocking down threes, Fernández would put on the goggles as if to say, "I can see with these on." The trend quickly spread across the team, becoming routine for players such as Mills, Fernández, Wesley Matthews, Marcus Camby and Brandon Roy. T-Shirts with the gesture were printed and popularly sold in Portland.[46] Nuggets guard J. R. Smith performed the goggles after sinking a three-pointer against the Blazers, a gesture which irritated some in Portland but demonstrated the popularity of the gesture.[47] The gesture has caught on at many levels of basketball in America; for example, Darius Johnson-Odom, Doron Lamb and Nolan Smith adopted it in college to celebrate their baskets.[48]

Personal life

Aron Baynes and Patty Mills in front of the ACT Legislative Assembly in July 2014, with the NBA championship trophy.

Mills met long-time girlfriend Alyssa Levesque, who was also a college basketball player, while they were both attending Saint Mary's College of California.[49]

Mills is a fan of the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland rugby league teams.[50][51] His cousin, Edrick Lee, plays in the National Rugby League for the Canberra Raiders.[52] He is also a fan of the Adelaide Crows of the Australian Football League.[53]

In the wake of the 2010 Queensland floods, Mills raised over $40,000 to assist with flood relief through Portland-based charity foundation Wears My Shirt.[54]

In July 2014, Mills was presented with the keys to Canberra.[55][56]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes season in which Mills won an NBA Championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009–10 Portland 10 0 3.8 .417 .500 .571 .2 .5 .0 .0 2.6
2010–11 Portland 64 0 12.2 .412 .353 .766 .8 1.7 .4 .0 5.5
2011–12 San Antonio 16 3 16.3 .485 .429 1.000 1.8 2.4 .6 .1 10.3
2012–13 San Antonio 58 2 11.3 .469 .400 .842 .9 1.1 .4 .1 5.1
2013–14† San Antonio 81 2 18.9 .464 .425 .890 2.1 1.8 .8 .1 10.2
2014–15 San Antonio 51 0 15.7 .381 .341 .825 1.5 1.7 .5 .0 6.9
Career 280 7 14.5 .439 .391 .843 1.3 1.6 .6 .1 7.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Portland 3 0 4.0 .500 1.000 1.000 .0 1.0 .0 .0 2.0
2011 Portland 2 0 2.5 .000 .000 .000 .5 .0 .0 .0 .0
2012 San Antonio 8 0 3.9 .545 .600 .000 .4 .6 .1 .0 1.9
2013 San Antonio 9 0 3.4 .500 .286 .000 .3 .2 .0 .0 1.3
2014† San Antonio 23 0 15.3 .447 .405 .769 1.5 1.4 .7 .0 7.3
Career 45 0 9.6 .452 .409 .786 .9 1.0 .4 .0 4.5

Career highlights

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reed, Ron, Herald Sun (4 August 2007). "New kid on Boomers' block". Basketball Australia. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  2. ↑ Whelliston, Kyle (30 November 2007). "Memphis, St. Mary's and Gonzaga have freshman gems". ESPN.com. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Australia's Patty Mills tops Olympic basketball point-scoring averages
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Malone, Frances (7 December 2006). "Patrick Mills is standing tall". Basketball Australia. Archived from the original on 7 September 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pashelka, Curtis (24 November 2007). "Aussies could outnumber Americans at SMC game". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 30 November 2007. (free registration required)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NBA hero could have been AFL star
  7. ↑ Mills nearly a Swan
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Mills caps off big week with BA junior award". Basketball Australia. 12 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 September 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  9. ↑ "US too powerful for World in Hoop Summit". Basketball Australia. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Men's Basketball Inks Patrick Mills During Early Signing Period" (Press release). Saint Mary's College Athletics. 8 November 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Starks, Jennifer (1 November 2007). "Patrick Mills". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 30 November 2007. (free registration required)
  12. ↑ "Coaches: David Patrick". Saint Mary's College Athletics. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  13. ↑ Baxter, Bill (27 November 2007). "Boomers: Mills best in the West". Basketball Australia. Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Freshman Mills scores 37 points as Saint Mary's upsets Oregon". ESPN.com. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Glockner, Andy (12 December 2007). "Aboriginal hoops star putting face on St. Mary's". ESPN.com. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
  16. ↑ "Men's Basketball Win Rainbow Classic Title With 70–63 Win Over Ohio" (Press release). Saint Mary's College Athletics. 23 December 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2007.
  17. ↑ "WCC Announces 2008 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams" (Press release). West Coast Conference. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  18. ↑ Associated Press (21 March 2008). "McClinton leads Hurricanes' rally with career-high 38 points". ESPN.com. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  19. ↑ Patrick Mills Stats
  20. ↑ No second thoughts for St. Mary's Patty Mills about staying in draft - San Jose Mercury News
  21. ↑ Freeman, Joe (14 July 2009). "Mills undergoes successful surgery". The Oregonian. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  22. ↑ "Trail Blazers Sign Patrick Mills". NBA.com. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  23. ↑ "Portland waives Tolliver, sends Mills to Idaho". NBA.com. 29 December 2009.
  24. ↑ NBA Development League: Idaho picks up 123–109 win over Reno
  25. ↑ NBA Development League: Idaho nabs come-from-behind win over Reno,109-108
  26. ↑ "Blazers @ Clippers box score, 4/1/10". NBA.com.
  27. ↑ 09-10 Transactions
  28. ↑ Tigers sign NBA star Boomer Patty Mills
  29. ↑ Xinjiang tab Patty Mills with a non-guaranteed contract
  30. ↑ Melbourne Tigers release Patty Mills after massive offer from Chinese club Xinjiang Flying Tigers
  31. ↑ Player statistics for Patrick Mills
  32. ↑ Xinjiang Flying Tigers release Patty Mills
  33. ↑ NBA point guard and Boomers superstar Patrick Mills sacked by his Chinese club for 'faking injury'
  34. ↑ Spurs Sign Patrick Mills
  35. ↑ Notebook: Spurs 107, Warriors 101
  36. ↑ "Aussie Patty Mills shines again in NBA". SMH.com. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  37. ↑ "Spurs Re-Sign Patrick Mills". NBA.com. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  38. ↑ Patty Mills Exercises Player Option
  39. ↑ NBA championship winner Patty Mills out for seven months with shoulder injury
  40. ↑ SPURS RE-SIGN PATTY MILLS
  41. ↑ Green leads injury-depleted Spurs to win
  42. ↑ "Australia’s best young basketballers unveiled at Australian Institute of Sport" (Press release). Australian Institute of Sport. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  43. ↑ "Mills comes of age in Boomers debut". Basketball Australia. 31 July 2007. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2007. (scroll down page to reach article)
  44. ↑ Mills is sometimes credited with being the youngest ever, but this is incorrect. Mills debuted on 31 July 2007, at the age of 18 years and 11 months. But the AIS Representative History page records that Andrew Vlahov, born 1 April 1969, debuted in 1987, so Vlahov could not have been older than 18 years 9 months.
  45. ↑ Australia's Patty Mills tops Olympic basketball point-scoring averages
  46. ↑ ‘3 Goggles’ are the rage in Portland
  47. ↑ Blazers: Nuggets' J.R. Smith co-opts '3 Goggles' gesture 'all in the fun of the game'
  48. ↑ College basketball’s newest celebration fad is the '3 goggles'
  49. ↑ "Away From Country: Patty Mills". nitv.org.au. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  50. ↑ Twitter / Patty_Mills: Big game tonight without the
  51. ↑ Twitter / Patty_Mills: QLDER #5am http://t.co/DoiKnF2qZ8
  52. ↑ Former Brisbane Bullets basketball player Edrick Lee signs two-year contract with Canberra Raiders
  53. ↑ Crows Spur on Mills
  54. ↑ Aaron Preine (18 February 2013), Keep the Passion: Patty Mills, Pounding the Rock
  55. ↑ Tuxworth, Jon (18 July 2014). "NBA star Patty Mills gets freedom of Canberra, but not free parking". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 20 July 2014.
  56. ↑ Nairn, Jessica (18 July 2014), NBA champion Patrick Mills awarded the keys to the city in Canberra, Yahoo 7 News, archived from the original on 20 July 2014

External links