Patty Mills to Donate Remaining NBA Salary in Orlando to Help Fight Racism
While a number of players have opted out when it comes to the NBA restart, Patty Mills is not among them. The San Antonio Spurs guard will participate and will use the opportunity to support the Black Lives Matter cause. Mills recently made his intentions known including his pledge of a major donation to organizations supporting the cause.
Patty Mills Announces Plans to Donate Remaining Salary
In a recent video, the Spurs’ Patty Mills spoke about his choice to participate in the Orlando restart. Mills said it will be done as part of an effort to support the Black Lives Matter cause. To do so, he’ll take his remaining salary for the season and donate to a number of organizations.
“I’m taking every cent earned from these eight games that we’re playing, which for me will be $1,017,818.54 and donating that directly back to the Black Lives Matter Australia, Black Deaths in Custody, and to a recent campaign that’s called the We Got You Campaign, dedicated to ending racism in sport in Australia,” Mills said.
“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 added.
The 31-year-old Mills hails from Canberra, Australia and has played for San Antonio since the 2011-12 season. He was part of the team’s championship run in 2014 and helped them win the title against the Miami Heat.
He’ll join the Spurs as part of their roster for the NBA restart in Orlando. They’ll have eight games in which to try to take over the No. 8 seed for the Western Conference.
Mills Posts Statement, NBA to Allow Special Jerseys
In addition to his spoken words in the video where he pledges his remaining salary to Black Lives Matter, Patty Mills also took to Twitter to post another statement about the cause he is supporting. It includes a number of statements from other athletes in images as part of the tweet.
“When allies who stand up and speak out against racism through a small gesture, this is one of many actions that have a tremendous impact on the person being targeted because they feel the support. It can also make whoever racially vilifies that person reconsider own behavior,” Mills said in the message with his tweet.
Prior to the NBA formulating plans to officially restart the season using a bubble site in Orlando, players were concerned about health and safety issues due to the coronavirus pandemic. There was also concern by players that the Black Lives Matter cause would end up overlooked or pushed aside as they returned to play.
The NBA recently announced they would allow players to wear special messages in place of their names on the back of their jerseys. Some of those messages may include “Equality,” “I Can’t Breathe,” and “Black Lives Matter.”
The San Antonio Spurs departed for the Orlando bubble site as of Thursday. The team’s first official game of the eight-game schedule takes place on July 31.