Topic: Patrick Mills

Patrick "Patty" Mills (born 11 August 1988) is an Australian professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. He is one of the first Indigenous Australians to play basketball in the NBA, and is one of the youngest players ever to suit up for the Australia national basketball team, the Boomers.

Mills' father is a Torres Strait Islander and his mother is an Aborigine from the Ynunga people of South Australia. He was first exposed to basketball as a four-year-old with The Shadows, an Indigenous Australian team that his parents established. Mills attended Marist College Canberra where he played a variety of sports in addition to basketball, such as Australian football and athletics. He served as ball boy for the Canberra Cannons of the NBL around 2000. During that time, his family developed a close relationship with Cannons player David Patrick, who would eventually play a key role in Mills' career.

At the age of 15, Mills was selected for the ACT U-18 squad to compete in the Australian National Championships. The following year, Mills accepted a full-time scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport, which had also developed three-time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson and current Milwaukee Bucks player Andrew Bogut, where he continued to develop as a player. He also made a strong impression at the 2005 Australian Olympic Youth Festival, an event considered to be a showcase for future elite sporting talents.