Spurs' Patty Mills to donate $1 million NBA restart salary to Black Lives Matter orgs
San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills announced on Wednesday that he’s decided to play in the upcoming NBA restart in Orlando, and he’s doing it for a very personal reason.
In a video posted by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the 11-year NBA veteran said that he’ll be donating every cent of his NBA restart salary to Black Lives Matter organizations in his native Australia. That comes to $1,017,818.54.
Spurs guard Patty Mills says he is donating his remaining NBA salary of $1,017,818.54 in Orlando to Black Lives Matter organizations. pic.twitter.com/ugPwExNebM
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 8, 2020
"I'm playing in Orlando because I don't want to leave any money on the table that could be going directly to Black communities," Mills said in the video. That money will be going to Black Lives Matter Australia, Black Deaths in Custody, and a recent campaign, We Got You, dedicated to ending racism in sport in Australia.
Mills has been a vocal advocate for social justice causes over the course of his career, and sees the Orlando restart as a chance to continue that work on a larger stage.
"I’m looking forward to Orlando as an opportunity to be able to launch my mission of race and social justice," Mills said, via the San Antonio Express-News. "I’m very eager, just like I am on the court, to be able to rise to the occasion and make a direct impact.”
The Spurs are currently 12th in the Western Conference, but are just four games behind the 8th place Memphis Grizzlies. They’ll fight to make up those four games when the NBA restart kicks off on July 30.
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