Patty Mills named finalist for NBA Sportsmanship Award

Patty Mills
Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills shoots during the 3-Point Contest during the 2022 NBA All-Star Saturday Night at Rocket Mortgage Field House.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Patty Mills was named a finalist for the NBA Sportsmanship Award on Wednesday, the league announced.

Mills was one of six players named as a finalist for the award that is given out to the player that best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. If he wins he would be the first Brooklyn Net to take home the honors since the NBA began handing out the award during the 1995-96 season.

Jason Kidd did take home the award twice during his career, but did so as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks. It was the only time a member of a New York basketball team was given the honors.

A panel of NBA executives widdled down the list to six finalists after all 30 teams submitted a nominee. The winner will be selected by current NBA players.

Mills is representing the Atlantic Division and up against Miami’s Ben Adebayo, Phoenix’s Mikal Bridges, Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Denver’s Jeff Green and Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr.

The Aussie sharpshooter is in his first season with the Nets after spending the last 10 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. Mills has taken on a larger-than-expected role in Brooklyn due to the absence of Joe Harris, who is out the rest of the season.

It has been a year of career-highs for Mills with the Nets. Through 75 games this year, he has set new highs in starts (46), minutes per game (29.3), and points per game (11.8).

Mills has shot 41% from the field and 40.1% from beyond the arc for the Nets. Some of the burden has been lifted from Mills after Brooklyn acquired Seth Curry from the Philadelphia 76ers as part of the deal that brought Ben Simmons to Kings County.

The Nets used Mills for 16:53 of Tuesday’s win over the Detroit Pistons at Barclays Center.