15th June 2014.
Dear Diary,
Now was our chance. Our chance to win the NBA finals. We made the finals, and we were playing to back-to-back champs. The Miami heat. They had 3 of the best players, in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. We were up 3-1 games in a series of first to 4. The game started. We started of slow, going down by 11 within the first 5 minutes. We were still confident, only playing 5 minutes. We kept up with them for a couple more minutes, but they made a couple shots going up by 16 points. Within 1 minute we went on a 9-0 run.
Now we were only down by 7 at the end of the first quarter. LeBron was on fire, scoring 17 points in 12 minutes. The score stayed the same for 6 minutes, but then Tim Duncan went on a scoring run. He tied the game, scoring 3 straight buckets. Kawhi Leonard, Manu Ginobili and I kept hitting threes going up by 7 at the end of the half. I had 10 points going into the 3rd quarter. I scored a layup straight after Kawhi’s dunk, extending the lead to 14. They took a timeout to discuss. Straight after that, I hit another 3 going up by 17! In the next possession, Chris Bosh got an easy layup for the heat, but straight after I hit another pull-up three while the heat was running back.
On the next possession, Ginobili hit another 3 making the lead 21 points! With 3 minutes left in the 3rd, I hit another 3! I was amazed of how many shots I was making. Chris Bosh got another layup but again, straight after I hit another 3! The 4th quarter started while the fans roared. Tony Parker went on a scoring rampage making 4 buckets in a row. With 3 minutes left, we were up by 17 basically securing the championship. We did it. We won! I felt on top of the world having one of my best games in the NBA! We celebrated, hugging each other on the court with joy. I couldn’t believe anything, being so excited.
Patty Mills.
14th August 2020.
Dear Diary,
It has been a long few weeks in the NBA bubble, fighting for our playoff position. Unfortunately, we were one spot away from the playoffs, so we will be sent back home to San Antonio. Though we lost, there were good parts of the bubble. I donated every cent of my money ($1.5 Million) to racism campaigns back in Australia. Back at home, Indigenous Australians are treated differently so the donation would be appreciated no matter the amount. There were some amazing shots during the games from DeRozan hitting step backs and everyone making good shots.
Today, we were able to wonder around the bubble. There are face scan machines all around which was interesting. Just 3 hours ago when the game finished, we were extremely disappointed with our performance losing by only 6 points, but we still played well. The best part of the whole entire bubble was seeing fans and family on digital screens in the crowd. Even though we couldn’t talk to them, it was still nice to see them cheering back at home. I posted a video on twitter telling everyone I would donate the money. I hope everyone back at home is excited and happy for the donation.
About the charity, it was my largest donation ever. I hope the money helped many people back at home, no matter the situation they’re in. I consider all Indigenous Australians are my family, so I give everything I have. I was able to make bonds with some of my teammates, playing with them and having fun. Though basketball is the main interest, no one should expect to think we only work on the court. Now, I am about to leave for a team meeting talking about what’s happening ahead of this moment.
Patty Mills.
7th August 2021.
Dear Diary,
Now was my time. It was the bronze medal game in the Olympics. We had just lost to USA to qualify for the finals, but we still had a chance to win bronze. The game started. Throughout the first quarter, it was extremely close always being within a couple points. There were some amazing highlights from everyone like step back threes and dunks. I had already been playing well with 20 points in the first half, but their young start, Luka Doncic, was keeping the score close.
When the second half started, we started to gain a small lead. I was making all my shots and Matisse was dunking everywhere. They slowly started to come back cutting the lead to 4 points. We kept missing for a short period of time while they were on fire. We took a timeout to discuss what we were doing wrong. We were ready. We made every single shot going up by 15 points. I had 30 points by the end of the 3rd quarter which is one of my highest scoring games ever.
During the 4th quarter, the score stayed nearly the exact same, staying up by around 15. I was still on fire, finishing the game with 42 points which was my career high. We won by 14 points, celebrating Australia’s first medal ever. The feeling of leading your team to victory felt amazing. I was interviewed by many people, asking how I did that. My answer was that I was searching for a win. I wanted to make myself and Australia proud.
Patty Mills.
