Melbourne Tigers of the Australian NBL sign NBA’s Patty Mills
In one of the biggest swoops for Australian basketball, the Melbourne Tigers secured the signature of NBA and Portland Trail Blazers player Patty Mills. The signing represents a major coup for the National Basketball League (NBL)
of Australia.
Mills is a bona fide NBA star. He plays at the point guard position and signed for the Portland Trail Blazers two years ago. The player averaged 5.5 points per game and 1.7 assists a game last season when he played as backup point
guard for the Trail Blazers.
In light of the NBA lockout Mills has decided to try his hand elsewhere. The youngster is believed to have enough potential to be a starting point guard in the NBA one day. He reportedly had offers from Europe but rejected those
in favour of a return to his home country.
Patty will certainly be paying back to the Australian basketball community by playing for the Tigers. His presence in the league will raise the profile of Australian basketball and give much needed exposure to the sport in the
country.
All people involved with Australian basketball are believed to be happy with Mills’ decision.
“Patty Mills is an NBA player in the prime of his career, and one of Australia’s best basketballers,” said Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock. “For him to turn his back on much larger contracts in Europe in order to play
here in Australia is an amazing vote of confidence in the iiNet NBL Championship.
“This is one of the most significant signings in NBL history and one which I have no doubt will help us record our third successive year of attendance growth,” Sengstock added. “For fans to be able to watch a player of Mills’
ilk at the peak of their powers is a rare opportunity and one which I am sure plenty of people will take up either in person on via our TV broadcasts.”
Patty has signed on for the 2011-2012 season in the NBL. He would form a mouth-watering back court partnership with Ayinde Ubaka whilst at the Melbourne club and Tigers’ fans are already looking forward to seeing the duo in action.
FIBA stated earlier that it will only allow NBA players to switch over to other countries if their contracts contained release clauses. Mills has therefore signed a deal that will allow him to return to the NBA once the lockout
is over, even if that means leaving the Tigers midseason.
The NBA lockout has encouraged a lot of NBA players to look overseas for employment opportunities. While the players get to make some extra money playing abroad, such ventures are also bound to raise the profile of basketball around
the world.
Tags: