Top 70 Patty Mills Quotes

To continue my efforts as a leader for my people and to follow my family’s legacy of providing legitimate opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through my sport of basketball is the true outcome of my personal success and accomplishments.

I understand my game better and what I do well, what I do is shoot the ball and finds ways to score and that was the feedback from the coaches to me – remember who you are and let the ball fly.

I’ve been quite fortunate to visit juvenile detention centers in Australia, jails in Western Australia. To be able to go out there and visit and see what it’s like, you get a feeling for it.

You have to be able to reach for the moon. You have to be able to have those sort of goals.

It’s super exciting just to know you’re in a position where you’re playing for something each and every day.

Learn that you can stand up for who you are, stand up for your heritage and be proud.

Being Australian is a lot more than saying ‘g’day mate’ and ‘throw a shrimp on the Barbie.’

Being a leader of the Boomers team is something that I’ve felt responsible for and being able to learn from the amount of guys that I’ve been able to – not only on the Boomers in my early days, but also over here in the NBA.

When something happens – good, bad or ugly – you find a way to be able to do your part for your community. How do you better the lives of Indigenous people, how do you give back to the land, how do you stay connected? All of this is the same question.

You have to be able to connect and re-connect to the passionate things that got you to a certain point in the first place. If you can connect and continue to hold onto that passion, that’s the key thing that will help you get through tough times.

Things are bigger than basketball. The Spurs are great at helping you know that you’re not just at the gym every day to throw a ball around, but you’re here to represent.

I’ll always say this: my name is Patrick Mills, I’m a Kokatha man from South Australia, and I’m a Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man of the Torres Strait Islands.

My game isn’t defined by points, it’s more.

Everyone is out to find that next best player, so make the most of your opportunity.

A lot of my teammates in the NBA call me Little Patty anyway as they are about two feet taller than me.

The values I have as a person are the same as the whole Spurs organisation and that’s why it feels like home.

I believe we’ve got to be able to make some noise to create change.

I want to help educate. I want to show how you can stand strong without anger. Taking the high road.

I’ve grown a lot in my time in San Antonio, both on and off the court, and probably off the court most importantly.

I’ve got to bring it every night and earn the right and trust from my coach and teammates to be able to make an impact on the game.

Knowing that you’re all in for a championship and you have that mindset and feel throughout the group. Every day it’s working towards something. That’s an exciting feeling to know when you walk in the gym, or in the weight room, it’s for a championship.

I feel a responsibility to not only live up to expectations, but the standard of which the likes of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili have set for us.

Australia is a great country. America is a great country. We all have issues and different aspects.

People ask when I was younger in the league who my favourite player was to play against and it was Steve Nash. It wasn’t necessarily that I was guarding him or he was guarding me it was more so getting to see up close and personal how he plays and how he approached the game. That was very exciting for me.

For me, running the point, it’s good and that’s where I feel comfortable the most.

It’s never going to be a smooth sailing ship, there’s going to be ups and downs and I think one of the most important things to understand is not to ride the highs too high and ride the lows too low – it is a marathon and if you can just try to steady the ship as you go.

I’m just a little indigenous boy who likes to have a dance.

It’s a competitive fire underneath me that welcomes the spotlight, welcomes those big moments.

Coming off a pretty significant injury for me with my shooting shoulder, I learned a lot about my character.

I think an all-around type of mentality is the thing that I have tried to have always. I am not too happy with myself when I start to float around and just be out there.

Being amongst the best players in the world, it’s a really exciting opportunity I think I’ll be able to thrive off.

My goal stays the same of wanting to be an NBA point guard.

For me, being able to be prepared for a lot of things is something I take pride in.

The way that I represent Australia and indigenous Australia affects other people as well from other cultures.

I’m deeply connected to both sides of my family in ways that I’m not sure I can get across, in ways that many people will never understand.

I had a roommate who refused to believe that there were black people from Australia and that I just had this accent. I got frustrated. I’m saying, ‘mate, you’ve never heard of Aboriginals?’ And he definitely never heard of the Torres Strait Islands.

Basketball as a sport has brought me happiness, joy, education and a real sense of purpose.

The AFL and NRL have done an awesome job every season in acknowledging Australia’s culture and Indigenous culture.

I’ll start by saying that our motto that we were living by was ‘gold vibes only,’ and yes, our goal is to win gold. We’re at the Olympics, that’s what everyone’s goals and dreams should be. If you don’t have that goal set out for yourself as a team, as individuals, then what are you doing here?

People talk about the Spurs and how we do a decent job at playing basketball. But there is a deeper meaning to who we are, where we come from, and at the same time, why we play basketball.

If you take control of yourself and you make the right cut or the right screen, then something good will come out of it.

It goes without saying that there is a significant gap between the NBA and Basketball Australia in terms of catering to the players’ needs so that we can perform at a high level night in, night out.

You have games when you miss shots and when you make shots. But knowing you’re here for a reason and you’re an NBA basketballer helps.

For me, Cathy Freeman was definitely my idol and inspiration growing up. Everyone saw what she achieved on the track… but for me it was how she carried herself as an indigenous woman. For me, that’s what caught my eye and why I wanted to be like her.

I appear African-American, so it’s not until I start talking that people go, ‘Hold on, there’s something not right here.’ But it’s an awesome conversation starter. I open my mouth, they get curious, and I say, ‘Got a few minutes? Have a seat.’

My life is going from journey to journey, mate.

I play basketball, and I’m grateful for what the sport has provided for me and my family, but I’m even more appreciative for the voice and platform that has come along with it.

I go about my craft as a professional and learn ways to get better, trying to carry myself in a way that I think can inspire others.

It’s about finding the chemistry on the court and where you can get to your spots and where you can find open ones.

The early adolescence years are crucial for a child’s cognitive, emotional and social development.

I put it on myself to be a role model for all Australian kids, especially indigenous kids.

Playing basketball is fun, and I love it and I enjoy it every day.

For Australians to make it in the NBA, it’s very hard, and for Australians to make it and win an NBA championship is even harder.

At a young age, I was going around the islands singing ‘spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way’ and not really understanding what the hell that phrase meant.

I’m trying to help inspire kids to achieve their dreams and never give up.

Now that I get a chance on the big stage, it’s even more important to remember where I came from.

I got it tough, but I can’t even imagine what the Stolen Generation went through.

I love basketball and I love playing it, but there will be a stage in my career when I have to hang the basketball boots up, which is why I’m more than happy to have my culture with me.

As San Antonio Spurs players, we have a responsibility for our community.

Every meal is a conscious effort to stay disciplined and understand what’s on your plate.

Having the trust and respect from your teammate is where it starts and that is getting to know guys off the court, even before basketball.

I am ecstatic and filled with immense pride to have the world’s most renowned professional basketball league join forces with IBA – the work we are going to do together will make a real impact to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths.

If there’s something I believe is right, I back myself.

The fact I’ve worked hard to play in the NBA and at the elite level, I’m just using it to promote my culture and heritage, represent my country and Canberra.

I feel like I’ve experienced a lot to learn my own game but also to be able to help others as well.

I’ve always been an ambassador for Australians, non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Australians… I let people know about who I am and that I’m not just a basketballer, I’m a person who comes from a very rich heritage.