Patty Mills: San Antonio Spurs guard to donate NBA restart salary to social justice causes
Mills: "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"
Wednesday 8 July 2020 23:20, UK
San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills has announced he will donate his entire salary from the NBA's restart to a trio of social justice causes in his native Australia.
Mills will donate the remaining £800,000 he will earn this season to the charities, as he seeks to maintain awareness around the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I'm proud to say I'm taking every cent from these eight games that we're playing, which for me will turn out to be $1,017,818 and 54 cents, and donating that directly back to 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 in a video posted by the Spurs.
"So, 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 was to have earned about $12.5m this season, had it not been interrupted and some games cancelled because of the pandemic.
The 31-year-old is averaging a career-best 11.7 points to go along with 1.8 assists and 1.6 rebounds in 63 games (one start) this season, which has been halted by the coronavirus pandemic since March 11.
The Spurs (27-36) reside four games behind the Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) for the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference.
The Spurs leave for the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida on Thursday, when they will be among the final eight arrivals of the 22 teams that will be participating in the NBA restart.
