SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills was one of the two flag bearers for the Australian Olympic team Friday.
Mills and swimmer Cate Campbell were named in early July to be flag bearers for the Australian Olympic team at the opening ceremony.
Mills is the first indigenous Australian person to bear the flag at the Olympics. He's also the third basketball player to be an Australian flag-bearer, behind Lauren Jackson and Andrew Gaze.
Mills posted photos on his Twitter page of himself in front of the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander flags on July 7.
Mills has been an active voice for indigenous people in both his home country and the United States.
While in the NBA bubble during the second half of the 2019-2020 season, Mills donated his salary for those games – a sum of more than $1 million – to the cause of social justice and the struggle against racism in his native Australia.
Mills also pushed for the NBA’s first “Indigenous Night,” which took place in January 2020. That night, during the pregame festivities, members of the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation told of “San Antonio’s beginnings through several cultural performances – including an elder opening, River Singers, Powwow Dancers, and Aztec Dancers."
Mills also established an apparel collection collaboration with the Tāp Pīlam Coahuiltecan Nation; the collection features imagery depicting the tribe's early history.
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