San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills went up against the likes of Russell Westbrook in this year’s NBA playoffs, won a championship in 2014 against LeBron James and has represented his native Australia in the Olympics.
All that being said, he faced some of his toughest pressure of his career at the Stan Sheriff Center on Wednesday.
Mills, who is in town for workouts and is eventually on his way back to his homeland to prepare for the Rio Olympics, was grilled by happy campers on the closing day of the first Rainbow Warrior basketball clinic of the summer.
“I asked him if his accent is real or not,” said Punahou student Robert Liu, 13, who’s seen Mills play on TV.
The affable Aussie also was challenged on his (alleged) 6-foot height.
Mills shook off the ruthless questions in the same manner he broke out for MVP honors in the 2007 Rainbow Classic, when he was a freshman for Saint Mary’s. His shared Gaels background with Ganot is how Mills’ island return came to be.
“Coming back here, there were definitely memories floating through my head when we stepped on the floor,” Mills said with a smile. “Love this gym, this is a great gym, especially ‘cause we won that tournament.”
Today, the former journeyman has found a steady home off the bench in Texas. While supporting breakout star Kawhi Leonard and the old Big Three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the sharpshooting Mills averaged 8.5 points this season for the 67-win Spurs.
“The other day we were talking, I said ‘hey, these kids would love to hear your story. You’re an inspiration,’ ” Ganot said. “Not surprisingly, he was all in. … We talk all the time about attitude and effort and he’s a star at both.”
Mills led the 60-or-so campers in a chant of “Go Spurs Go,” presented Ganot with a Mills No. 8 Spurs jersey, then signed autographs and posed for pictures.
When Ganot got the UH job last year, Mills was among the first to congratulate him, and he followed UH’s season. He compared Ganot branching out from Randy Bennett’s Saint Mary’s coaching tree to the disciples of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich finding recent success across the NBA.
He is among the best-known products of the Gaels’ Australian talent pipeline, which Ganot has spoken of replicating here.
“As everyone knows he is a very genuine person,” Mills said of Ganot. “Really cares about people. So he puts the time in to go to Australia and visit those places, and he’s familiar (there). I definitely see a pipeline coming through Hawaii.”
UH hosts a one-day shooting clinic on Friday for $75. The next three-day camp begins June 21 and runs $250 per person. To sign up, visit hawaiiathletics.com.
