Patty Mills on how it feels to join the Brooklyn Nets

Australian native Patty Mills made a huge decision joining the Brooklyn Nets this summer. Various contenders had open arms for the 33-year-old, but it was the Nets who Mills thought would take his game to the next level. “It’s exciting that you’re in a position where you’re playing for something each and every day,” said Mills. “It’s the competitive fire underneath me that enjoys that. That welcomes the spotlight. That welcomes those big moments. It’s stuff that makes you want to get better and continue to learn about the game and learn about yourself.”

On the former NBA Champions’ team, the Spurs, it put pressure on the guard to step up. San Antonio is a glorified organization known for their winning culture. If you can break out as a player there, you don’t have much to prove in the league. In Brooklyn at this point in time, they are trying to create that same sort of winning culture and Mills is well aware of it:

“Being in the NBA for a few years now. Being in San Antonio for 10 of those seasons … I think it was an opportunity for me to turn the page of a new chapter. Speaking about Brooklyn and you know everything that I’ve learned, on the court and off the court. The culture of the city I think was something that was very attractive to me — I’m a culture guy.”

Thanks to Nets star Kevin Durant, convincing the Aussie to join the Nets made things easier. The veteran admitted that the conversation he had with Durant on his decision made it a no-brainer:

“The conversation that I had with Kevin (Durant) was so pure and so genuine. Being able to understand that he’s such a pure hooper — It was exciting for me to know that there’s an opportunity there for me to try to be who I am like I am in the National team.”