IT’S A WEDNESDAY afternoon in early July and Patty Mills is driving through the streets of Melbourne. He’s just finished his final training session before flying out with his fellow Boomers teammates, first to Abu Dhabi, and then on to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Mills sounds a little tired as he navigates the afternoon traffic. It’s no wonder; the last two weeks have been packed with appearances, charity events, sponsor spots and media commitments. At the same time, the Boomers have completed an arduous training camp, with two warm-up games against China, as coach Brian Goorjian whittled the 17-man squad down to 12. The cutthroat Hunger Games-like dynamic gave the camp an intensity that brings a smile to Mills’ face.
“It’s probably been the best camp that I’ve ever been a part of,” he says, his pride palpable. “The preparation has been so dialled in, on court and off court. There’s a genuine connection between each of the players. Camp was very physical, very competitive, which is a little bit strange to think about. You have guys that are fighting for selection spots but at the same time, genuinely wanting the team to head in the right direction. There was a team objective here of what we want to achieve in Paris.”
You don’t have to scratch your head too hard to figure out what that objective might be. After breaking through for a historic bronze medal in Tokyo in 2021, this Boomers team wants to take a step – or even two – up the Olympic podium.
“It was a massive relief to finally get over the hump and get on the podium,’ says Mills of the 2021 triumph. “It was definitely a taste of the holy grail, which is being on the top of that podium. All the hard work, blood, sweat and tears that so many of us have put into this program for so long, to see it finally pay off was definitely worth it. But at the same time, it was a taste of what we really want and that’s to be the last team standing.”
Mills and his teammates might be kidding themselves. The US team is possibly the strongest since the ’92 Dream Team, though the Boomers did just give them a fright, losing by only six points in a warm-up match in Abu-Dhabi. Canada boasts a team loaded with All Star talent in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and RJ Barrett, among others. And the Boomers haven’t been done any favours by the draw, occupying a group of death with Canada, Greece and Spain. It’s going to be tough to get out of the group, let alone return to the podium. Mills accepts the challenge.
“Three years on, you look back at that Tokyo team, and we acknowledge what we were able to do then, but at the same time we don’t want to be that team,” he says. “We want to be better in all aspects. And the fact is, we’re going to need to be on our A-game in every aspect for us to be on the top of the podium.”
It’s a challenge for which Mills is uniquely equipped. Rarely has a player taken greater pride in wearing the green and gold, nor has one been able to consistently elevate their game to the extent Mills has, dating back to 2008 in Beijing.
“‘Boomer Patty’ or ‘FIBA Patty’, whatever the name is, is real,” admits Mills, who hasn’t always been comfortable with the sobriquets, as he strived for consistency in his play, regardless of the court he was playing on. “I think it’s about time I stop lying to myself and acknowledge the fact that I am a different player when I put on the green and gold. It’s real. The amount of work, the pride, the passion, it all comes pouring out when I put the green and gold on, and I do rise to a whole other level.”
The thing is, this plateau-busting, baseline-blasting peak that Mills manages to reach every four years is not some mystical plane, open only to the truly gifted. Mills believes we all possess the wherewithal within us to level up when it counts. We just have to find our inspiration.
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IF YOU DRIVE along McEvoy Street in inner Sydney, you’ll often get backed up at the lights at Botany Road. As you wait for the lights to change, you’ll inevitably find yourself turning to your left, where a giant mural by local artist Scottie Marsh features Mills with his long-time Boomer teammate, Joe Ingles. The two are hugging after the team’s victory over Slovenia to claim the bronze medal in Tokyo.
I remember watching the moment in my loungeroom at home and feeling a stirring in my stomach. I had a feeling the image would be a lasting one and within minutes it was lighting up my social feeds. Now, when I drive past the mural it takes me back to that special night in Tokyo three years ago. The night a drought was broken and a bond between teammates was immortalised.
“He’s been my best mate for a long, long time now,” says Mills of his Boomers teammate. “We essentially grew up playing basketball against each other, then we became teammates, and then this long journey of sharing ups, downs and everything else in between. So, his friendship and mateship and brotherhood have meant a lot to me in my professional career, but also off the court as well, which is where I think it really started.”
The bond the players share is one that was forged in the crucible of international competition but it’s one that’s been soldered by the pride both have for their jersey.
“A lot of different guys are going to gain strength and confidence and inspiration from different things,” says Mills of finding that extra gear when he plays for his country. “I gain it from my country, the land, the people, where I’m from, my family. I’m a Kokatha, Naghiralgal, Dauareb-Meriam man, proudly born and raised in Australia and that’s who I’ll always be, far beyond basketball. So, I think that’s just scraping the surface of how deep my layers go in terms of representing the green and gold and Australia. Whenever I put those colours on, especially at Olympic Games, I feel all those things and I want to make all of Australia proud, because that’s what inspires me.”
The stats underline Mills’ elevated play in FIBA and Olympic tournaments. In London in 2012, he led all players with a scoring average of 21.2ppg. In Rio, he finished second, with an average of 21.3ppg, including a 30-point explosion against Team USA, the most ever scored by a Boomer against the Americans. And in Tokyo again, he led the team with 23.3 ppg and 6.3 assists per game, good enough for third overall in the tournament, behind Spain’s Ricky Rubio and Slovenia’s Luka Dončić.
Given what playing for Australia means to him, it’s no surprise then, that Mills began preparation for this campaign almost a year ago. “Over the course of the last NBA season, there was definitely a purposeful and intentional plan that was put in place to follow, just to get to this point,” he says. “I feel great, there’s been a lot of improvement on the court, but also in looking after the body, and a lot of gains made in the weight room, as well as mobility sessions. But as I sit here now in the car, just thinking back to when we started this campaign, I haven’t missed a beat with any of that. I haven’t skipped any steps.”
The truth is, if you want to reach levels you’ve never touched before, maybe even leave the earthly realm in a ‘heat-check’, as Mills has done so often in his career, you can leave no stone unturned.
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FOR MUCH OF his career, Mills had two constants in his basketball life and indeed, two families. The Boomers family, with Joe and Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) and the gang and his San Antonio crew, with Pop (coach Gregg Popovich), Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili.
Together they provided a home away from home from the family he left behind. The son of an Aboriginal mother, who was part of the Stolen Generations and a Torres Strait Islander father, Mills would grow up in Canberra, where he attended the AIS, his prowess on the footy field seeing him knock back offers from AFL teams, before deciding to go to college at Saint Marys in the US. From there, he was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in 2009, becoming the second Indigenous Australian ever to play in the NBA, after power forward Nathan Jawai.
In 2012, Mills would be signed by San Antonio, where he quickly became a fan favourite, offering potent three-point shooting off the bench. He would grow tight with his enigmatic coach, who shocked Mills during the Western Conference finals back in 2014, when he addressed the team on Mabo Day, detailing Mills’ great uncle, Eddie Mabo’s role as a campaigner for Indigenous rights. The tight-knit crew would win an NBA championship together in 2014.
Looking back at it now, the stability of that situation has become increasingly rare in the modern NBA, almost to the point of anachronism, as the musical chairs, merry-go-round of the off-season sees rosters shaken up and players looking at houses and sussing out schools in new cities at a moment’s notice.
Mills would learn just how cutthroat the business can be after leaving the Spurs in 2021, going first to the Brooklyn Nets for two seasons, before being traded to the Houston Rockets, who then sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, as part of a five-team trade. Four days later, he was traded for a third time to the Atlanta Hawks, before signing with the Miami Heat in February of this past season.
Mills admits that becoming a late-career NBA journeyman has taken some adjustment. “Being anywhere, doing anything for 10 years in a row, you learn a lot of stuff and it’s almost ingrained in you, you’re a part of that culture almost forever,” he says. “There’s going to be an adjustment period there, but man, I was so blessed and grateful to have that decade in San Antonio, because I really think I was able to grow there as a young adult and I think it prepared me for life after the Spurs. I’m not sure I would’ve got that development, not only on the court, but more so off the court [anywhere else]. So, when it was time for me to leave, it was kind of like a clear mind, of knowing what to do. There was a purposeful intent with my actions from that point on, knowing what I needed to do.”
Miami immediately felt right, says Mills, who found an affinity for the much vaunted, borderline mythical ‘Heat Culture’. “Oh mate, it’s definitely a real thing,” laughs Mills. “And I think from the other side of the world looking in, and not really being able to get a grasp if it’s real or not, being in there, firsthand, and ending the season going to the playoffs, I can tell you it’s absolutely a real thing. You can feel it. It’s genuine, it’s raw and it’s strong. It’s something that’s very familiar to me, the way that things are run over there.”
Even a vet like Mills found new things to learn in the Heat set-up. “When you’ve got guys like Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra in a locker room, you definitely have to have an open mind to be able to grow.” This hunger for development, he feels, has been one of the keys to his ability to turn talent and skill into sustained success. “I never feel like I know everything, and I’m constantly curious and asking questions,” he says. “I think a combination of hard work and an open mind to learn and grow can help you wring every last drop of your potential.”
Looking at Mills’ career in its entirety, you could say he’s been lucky to have been a part of teams with strong cultures. The fact is, though, both with the Boomers and the Spurs, he’s been integral in forging those winning ways and making sure teammates feel accepted, both on and off the court. Indeed, one of the reasons he felt so at home in Miami this year, he says, is due to the parallels he saw between Heat Culture and Boomers pride.
“I think there’s definitely a parallel and things that are relatable in terms of what you tie that culture back to,” he says. “I think here with the Boomers, there’s a strong sense of identity in terms of who we are and how we play. That hard yakka, blue-collar grit type of physical mentality. We get on with it, no matter how hard it’s going to be for us, we find ways. It’s a resilient type of mentality.”
It’s also an environment that encourages a certain amount of locker room shenanigans. “That mateship helps in being able to stay connected, on and off the floor, the banter you have with each other, the back and forth,” he says. “It’s such a fun process to go through and I always feel like whenever I have fun in doing all this stuff, then that’s when I’m really at my best.”
The final element that forges bonds that are immortalised on murals or celebrated in catchphrases, Mills says, is being able to achieve something that’s never been done before, together. “You find yourself in a boat with other people that are heading in the same direction. It’s a very powerful thing.”
Mills doesn’t know where he’ll play next season. At the time of writing, he is out of contract. He’ll turn 36 in August and after the Olympics he’ll be looking for a new ship to board, another journey to go on. But as he says, while the power to exceed your grasp lies within, it helps if you’ve got a band of like-minded brothers to join you on the ride.
Chase the vibe
Mills has been capturing his daily weights and mobility workouts on Instagram over the last couple of months in a slickly produced workout series called ‘Chase the Vibe’. The series has pulled back the curtain on how hard hoopers at the elite level train to prepare for games. But while the workouts have been eye-opening, the intensity behind them has always been there, says Mills.
“To be honest with you, this is a normal sort of preparation,” he says. “The only difference here is that I decided it was time to share it with everyone, and I thought the timing was right as well. But this is just another year, another preparation for a major campaign. I’m definitely working as hard as I’ve ever done before and feeling great about it as well, not skipping any steps. I think the biggest thing here is giving everyone an insight on what it really takes to be a professional athlete at the elite level, and to sustain it over time.”
Mills and Boom
Patty’s weights workout
Dumbbell split squat
Dumbbell hip thrust
Dumbbell curl to press
Standing single-arm cable row
Barbell rollout
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO: Jordan Kahu
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Christopher Riley
STYLING: Tessa Law
SOCIAL: Arielle Katos
DESIGN: Evan Lawrence
SHOT ON LOCATION AT: LSKD HQ, Loganholme, QLD
