Born the child of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal parents, Patty Mills has utilised his on-court talents to grow his philanthropic work away from the hardwood, rising as a symbol of hope for countless hard working Australians struggling to find lasting progression in their communities.

Patty’s rise to Australian distinction began, rather appropriately, in the nation’s capital. Leading a typically sports-crazed Canberran childhood, Patty juggled his basketball commitments with Australian rules football, playing both at a high level before focusing his efforts on the orange ball.

At 16, Patty’s decision to forgo a prospective AFL career was finally rewarded. After standout performances at Canberra’s Marist College, the prestige of the Australian Institute of Sport came calling, and with that his transcendent ascension to the pinnacle of national junior basketball began.

After being crowned the South East Australian Basketball League’s U/21 Australian Youth Player of the Year, Patty was named in the extended Boomers squad ahead of the side’s 2006 FIBA World Championships, the youngest to ever achieve such a feat.

Fresh from collecting NAIDOC’s National Sportsperson of the Year award in 2006, he elected to swap Canberra for California by signing with Saint Mary’s College to begin his collegiate basketball career. In his first season with the Gaels, Patty set freshman (a first-year college student) records for points in a season (472) and points in a game (37).

Unprecedented displays in a Saint Mary’s uniform earned Patty his first taste of Olympic action where, as the only non-professional in the side, the then teenager led an Australian Boomers team in scoring (14.2 points per game) which included Andrew Bogut, David Andersen and Joe Ingles. His highest scoring game was a 20-point outing against eventual winners the USA in the quarter-finals.

Arriving back on campus after a breakout Beijing campaign, another standout collegiate season led Patty to declare for the 2009 NBA Draft, becoming the first Saint Mary’s player to be selected (round 2, pick 55) since 1983.

Brief stints with the Portland Trail Blazers, Melbourne Tigers and Xinjiang Flying Tigers preceded Patty signing with the San Antonio Spurs in 2012, where he joined Hall of Fame talents Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on their quest for another NBA championship.

Under new Boomers coach – and Spurs assistant – Brett Brown, Patty was selected for his second Olympic campaign in London, where the now-famous eponym ‘Boomers Patty’ was born.

For an Australian roster oriented for the youthful trio of Joe Ingles, then Saint Mary’s attendee Matthew Dellavedova and himself, the 23-year-old Patty led all Olympians at London 2012 in points per game (21.2), bettering the exploits of basketball immortals such as Kevin Durant, Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol.

Perhaps the most prominent memory from London 2012 was the awakening of ‘Boomers Patty’. In Australia’s final group game against the undefeated Russian outfit, he connected on a game-winning buzzer-beater to secure his countrymen a valuable two points and a place in the knockout rounds.

Two years after the Boomers’ quarter-final exit in London, Patty’s name was forever etched into San Antonio Spurs folklore alongside fellow Aussie Aron Baynes. After a heart-breaking defeat to the LeBron James led Miami Heat in the 2013 NBA Finals, Patty’s side got revenge in the very next year, winning the best of seven-game series with two matches to spare.

In the series-clinching game five of the 2014 Finals Patty had a third quarter shooting eruption, scoring 14 points, to give San Antonio an unassailable lead towards clinching the franchise’s fifth NBA Championship.

With Bogut and Dellavedova collecting respective NBA championships in the two following years, the Boomers entered Rio’s Olympic village in 2016 with a newfound sense of swagger.

In Rio and coached by Andrej Lemanis, the Boomers qualified for their first semi-final appearance since 2000. In the semi-finals a convincing defeat at the hands of a well-drilled Serbian team sent Australia to the bronze medal match against perennial medallists Spain.

 (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

In the dying embers of the bronze medal match, Patty was called for a blocking foul on rival guard Sergio Rodriguez, giving the Spaniard two free throws which were calmly converted to lead his side a one-point victory and a finish on the Rio podium – all the while adding another chapter to the torment and heartbreak wreathing modern Boomers history.

For many years Patty has plunged himself into the communities and people that matter most to him, finding time away from the hardwood to support bushfire-affected communities, underprivileged families, and social justices throughout Australia – using his high-profile to influence change.

His on and off court leadership earned him the honour of becoming an Australian Olympic Team Opening Ceremony Flagbearer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the first Indigenous Australian to carry the flag at an Opening Ceremony, alongside Cate Campbell.

At Tokyo 2020 Patty showed remarkable longevity, having averaged more than 21.2 points per game to be among the top three scorers of all international players in London, Rio and Tokyo.

The Boomers went undefeated against Nigeria, Italy, Germany and Argentina to roll straight into the semi-finals for a clash with the USA. The Americans advanced to the gold medal match with a 97-78 win, relegating Australia to another bronze medal match.

On the eve of the Boomers’ bronze medal match – where a tough matchup against Slovenia’s leader and opposing point guard Luka Doncic was impending – it was a significant period in Patty’s life for other reasons.

After 10 years with the San Antonio Spurs, Patty signed with the Brooklyn Nets – about 3,000 kilometres from where he was based in Texas and 11,000 kilometres from the Athletes’ Village in Tokyo.

It proved no distraction for Patty on the court, who scored 42 points with 9 assists against Slovenia and successfully ended Australia’s a 65-year odyssey for an Olympic medal with the rose gold.

“We’ve been through a lot together, on the court, off the court,” Mills said on the night they won bronze. “It’s all paid off.”

The Boomers confirmed their place at the Paris Olympics by finishing higher than New Zealand at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Japan, but they didn’t meet expectations.

Australia missed the chance to play for a medal after losses to Germany and Slovenia in the pool stages. They ended the tournament on a high with a 100-84 win over Georgia, with Patty leading the way with 19 points.

After starting the 2023-24 season with the Atlanta Hawks, Patty – described as a “flat-out legend” by NBA great and former teammate Kevin Durant – was traded to the Miami Heat in March 2024 to see out his NBA contract.

Patty’s outside shooting remains a potent threat and heading into his fifth Olympics he is once again throwing himself wholeheartedly into Australia’s quest for a medal.

Courtesy AOC