Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Will Patrick Mills ever play in the NBA again? Patty Mills: Great question. I am in the middle of preparing for whatever comes next. I'll never say never, but it has been a big part of my life for over 16 years, and I think we'll see when we get to cross that bridge. The real answer is I'm not sure. I'm in a very special moment in time right now. It's the reason that I'm here. But we'll see. It could bethat people could hear this and be like, ‘What the hell is this guy talking about?‘ But it is the truth. I've actually just had our very first child a few weeks ago. It has been um the best decision that I've ever made to step away from basketball to be a present father here. And I've made a lot of decent decisions in my life. This one, by far, has been the best, to be able to be present and start my little family. That's the reason that I'm here and not playing in the NBA. But it was an important decision, and it was actually an easy decision, too.
Patty Mills: First day of preparing for the 2014 NBA finals: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and the Miami Heat. So I get to practice. You can't believe how intense this feeling is to be like, "We're back. All right, everyone, lock in." That's the feeling as you're driving the practice. Keeping it light but not too joking around. The clock is counting down before it goes off, and then we start, and sure enough, it goes off, and one of the coaches says, "All right, everyone in the film room, we're starting in the film room," which was probably understandable. So we all go into the film room, and I sit in the second row in the middle, Manu Ginobili behind me, always kicking me in the head or slapping my knee or playing some sort of game. But then we sat. So here we are, and you can feel the like the not tension in the room, but you could just feel like, all right, you know, what's the game plan here? You know, we're going to get this thing done. And Pops is at his table in front of the whiteboard and the TV, and he's looking down at the palm cards that he always has, and he looks up, and he looks at all of us, and he says, "Uh, do you know who does anyone in here know who Eddie Mabo is?" And straight away, like I got a lump in my throat, and I can only imagine what my face looked like, but I was just speechless. Is he asking everyone in the room who Eddie Mabo is? Eddie Mabo, in my culture, is a very significant person, and you put him up there with Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and those types of people, and what he was able to do in Australian history for indigenous people. He's the one who really put indigenous Australians on the map, and what he was able to do. Overturn the land rights decision. And in my head, I was like, there's no way he's asking this right now. I thought this was going to be about LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
Michael Scotto: Patty Mills, a 16-year NBA veteran, five-time Australian Olympian, and 2014 Spurs champion, was named University of Hawaii men's basketball general manager, coach Eran Ganot announced. Ganot continues the trend of NBA players going the college GM route by bringing Mills to Hawaii
"I'm deeply honored to join the University of Hawai'i basketball program as the new General Manager." Mills said. "This role is not only a professional milestone, but a personal one as well. Despite being from different parts of the Pacific region, as someone from the Torres Strait Islands, I feel a strong cultural connection to Hawai'i—our communities share deep respect and spiritual connection to the land, sea and sky and the strength of family and tradition.
Patty Mills last played in the NBL during the NBA lockout in 2011, when he suited up for the Melbourne Tigers. According to ESPN's Olgun Uluc and Pete Hooley on The Marketplace, that idea may be more than just be a distant hope. “I know at least one team, one large market team, a team that sits in a big market city that has had a conversation with Patty Mills,” Uluc said.
Advertisement
Olgun Ulic: “We have spoken about some of the teams that are being patient and waiting to see some of the names that may decide late to come to the NBL ... Patty Mills is technically one of those. There are teams that are hopeful that someone like Patty may decide that 'hey, if there’s no NBA opportunity for me', maybe we can slot him in.”
Law Murray: The LA Clippers have downgraded Patty Mills to questionable tonight vs Spurs due to illness
Law Murray: Because I will bring up old stuff lol I asked Patty Mills about his persistent baking of the Clippers over the years and about when he is at his best on the court Mills: "I really feed off of positivity and good vibes, and I think that's how I approach life." Another FUN GUY
Shams Charania: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading PJ Tucker, Mo Bamba, a future second-round pick and cash to the Utah Jazz for Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills, sources tell me and @BobbyMarks42.
Yossi Gozlan: The Clippers duck the tax by trading PJ Tucker for Drew Eubanks. They’re $4.1 million below that threshold so still have room to increase payroll a bit while remaining under. They also create a $6.5 million trade exception.
Advertisement
Law Murray: Clippers plan to keep Patty Mills as of now, per source. But that is to be determined. Trade deadline Thursday, buyout market TBD. Mills is 36 years old and on a minimum deal.
I went up to Patty Mills — 36-year-old Patty Mills, NBA champion Patty Mills — and asked the same question. The same pause followed. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve always played for purpose. I play for purpose, that’s for sure. So when purpose isn’t there, it’s definitely hard,” Mills said. “It’s obviously a business, and everyone realizes when you get to this stage. There are situations that will happen that will remind you of that. At the end of the day — it’s a business call for sure — our job is to go out there and help develop, help teach, especially these young guys, how to be professionals.”
From there, it was years of learning from some of the best. There were so many players who were kind enough to pass along some of their expertise. Way too many to name. But I’ll always be grateful to Mike Miller for showing me how to put in work. How to hone your craft through consistent and focused training. Mike was a maniac with that stuff, and if you were around him enough you couldn’t help but to have it rub off. Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili were two other guys I absolutely loved. They’re both tireless competitors, and Patty is literally the most optimistic, positive person I’ve ever met. Darrell Arthur, too, another Memphis guy. Did all the little things, the dirty work. He had a huge impact on me. Then there’s Chris Paul, my friend and also one of the most competitive people I have ever met. I remember us not talking for years over a playoff series! And Kyle Lowry. Kyle is one of my best friends in the entire world, going all the way back to middle school. So, it was awesome to be able to suit up and play in NBA games with Kyle.
Tom Orsborn: Will Hardy said he is “lucky to call” Patty Mills a “really good friend” after their 10 years together with the Spurs and that the Australian’s “presence is undeniable” in the Jazz locker room.