Australian basketball great Patty Mills has added another accolade to his glittering career by becoming the first Australian to play 1000 NBA games.
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The Boomers Olympic hero had been stranded on 999 NBA appearances since he last took to the court for the Utah Jazz in early November, but on Sunday night (US time) he was recalled to reach the landmark milestone as he had two rebounds and an assist in Utah’s 105-92 win over Orlando Magic.
Mills, 36, was the first Australian to reach the league milestone ahead of five players who had eclipsed 500 appearances: Andrew Bogut (783), Joe Ingles (768), Luc Longley (654), Aron Baynes (576) and Matthew Dellavedova (531).
The point guard reached the milestone with a national record 98 playoff appearances to go with 902 regular season games, as he came towards the end of a decorated career across nine franchises.
Mills’ best at NBA level came in a 10-year tenure at San Antonio Spurs, where he won the 2014 championship averaging 10 points per game across 81 regular and 23 post-season appearances.
The third Indigenous Australian to represent the country in international basketball and the first to win an Olympic medal when he led the Boomers to bronze at the Tokyo 2020 games, Mills was honoured with the ACT Australian of the Year award in 2022.
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