This Friday evening, Patty Mills will play again in the AT&T Center, the hall of the San Antonio Spurs where he spent ten years of his career. The small leader of 1m83 left an important legacy in Texas with great wrist whippings when coming off the bench so we take advantage of it: a little moment of emotion.
The new Nets player finds his old team for the second time this season on this Friday evening, but it is the first time he has returned to the Spurs room. The man who has the status of basketball legend in the land of kangaroos where he is from has experienced so much with his former franchise that his return is an event. Arrived at the Spurs for the 2011-12 season (his third in the NBA) from Portland, he is in the front row to experience the end of the good years of the Ginobili – Parker – Duncan trio. He also sees the transition with Kawhi Leonard taking the reins of the franchise to continue playing the top spots in the West, before taking part in the early years of rebuilding the franchise. In his adventure in Texas, the Australian will notably contribute to the last title of the Spurs, in 2014. Patty Mills is an example of loyalty, with an irreproachable behavior on the ground. It is not in San Antonio that we will say the opposite. He was able to assert himself as a leader by example in a team where he always came off the bench, initially to replace Tony Parker and then to play the role of mentor to Dejounte Murray et Cie. He was for years one of the important elements of the second unit of the Spurs. His excellent shooting allowed him to be very reliable in what he brought offensively and he was not afraid of big meetings. The proof, during the last two games of the 2014 Finals against the Heat of LeBron, Wade and Bosh, he scores for example 14 and 17 points for putting the lid on. Player not necessarily very flashy, who did not play the leading roles in Texas, but who nevertheless left an important legacy there.
His return will therefore be charged with all the emotions he experienced with his former franchise. Especially since Gregg Popovich, his lifelong coach, is still at the head of the team this year. The story is very beautiful and it continues for Patty Mills with the Nets this year, where the Australian must manage a new role and new responsibilities. Due to the absence of Kyrie Irving in the first part of the season and the injury of Joe Harris, Mills was propelled as the starter of a team that is chasing the NBA title. At 33, he quickly acclimated to his new role and is having one of the best seasons of his career with 13.4 points on average and 42.6% from the parking lot. His change of franchise hasn’t affected his attitude either since he still has the role of model teammate at the Nets, and that of a valuable veteran in the locker room. Today, he’s a terribly effective offensive threat on a team where opponents are drawn to superstars Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden. The presence of Patty Mills makes it possible to stretch the defenses or to punish them if they choose to double one of the stars. And sometimes it hurts a lot (hi Lakers), especially late in the game. No one knows better than Spurs. For information, the meeting of this Friday being outside for the New York team, Kyrie Irving should start in the five major alongside James Harden. However, that won’t necessarily push Patty to the bench, considering all three have started Brooklyn’s last two away games. In any case, regardless of the role that Mills will have this evening, we can already imagine the ovation of the AT&T Center during the presentation of the teams. It remains to be seen if it will be the same for LaMarcus Aldridge…
The Australian is considered one of the best basketball players in the history of his country. He proudly wore the colors of his native land at the Tokyo Olympics and will be back on his adoptive land this evening. A match not to be missed for all those who love emotional moments, great stories and quokkas.
PS: yes “Quokkas are so cute”.
