Patty Mills' support for Hawks inaugural Indigenous Round (December 2018)

Patty Mills put the Hawks first ever Indigenous jersey on global show when the club launches its own initiative in December 2018.

Transcript

00:00 and where I could buy one for a Christmas present?

00:02 This one on the marine?

00:03 Oh, this one's an Indigenous round.

00:04 It's with the Illawarra Hawks, a national team in the NBL back home.

00:09 They're doing an Indigenous round, so I'm sporting this for a great cause.

00:13 So, yeah, good stuff.

00:15 I can give it to you if you want.

00:16 [laughter]

00:18 About a year ago, a little bit over a year ago,

00:24 Tyson Deimos, along with the Illawarra Hawks,

00:26 took the initiative and control of having an Indigenous game

00:32 where they were able to promote both cultures,

00:35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,

00:38 and acknowledge those that have contributed to basketball

00:44 throughout the NBL.

00:45 For him to be the one to take control and take ownership

00:50 of having an Indigenous round within the NBL,

00:54 especially with his childhood club, the Illawarra Hawks,

00:59 was very impactful, I think, for not only for him and his family,

01:06 but for his friends, his peers,

01:09 and especially for me seeing from afar.

01:14 For me, it was just being able to jump on board

01:16 and do whatever I can to promote this game

01:19 that was already planned and about to happen.

01:23 How could I help Tyson and the Illawarra Hawks

01:27 get the word out about what they're doing?

01:29 The next 24 hours after, you know,

01:32 Paddy had posted that on all of his socials,

01:35 it gained so much traction.

01:36 And, you know, something that we really wanted to do

01:39 was push the NBL into having this as an annual event.

01:43 You know, through that, through the traction and the support

01:47 through community, Indigenous communities

01:49 throughout Australia, you know,

01:51 here we are about to hold the first Indigenous NBL round.

01:58 So, something that I'm obviously very, very proud of

02:01 and very thankful for and very excited to be a part of.

02:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]