The playing future of Boomers captain Patty Mills remains clouded after the five-time Olympian and 16-year NBA veteran accepted a role as the University of Hawaii men's basketball general manager.
Last month, NBL owner Larry Kestelman said he'd be surprised if Mills, currently a free agent since his Los Angeles Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs, did not finish his career with a swansong back home.
Kestelman believed Mills would at some point follow fellow Aussies Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova and Aron Baynes in returning home from NBA stints.
The 38-year-old last featured in the league for the Melbourne Tigers, now Melbourne United, in 2011.
Mills, the first Australian to reach 1000 NBA games, will take on a newly created role which supports student-athlete mentorship and development, while contributing to key areas including recruiting, fundraising, and community engagement.
"I'm deeply honoured to join the University of Hawaii basketball program as the new general manager." Mills said.
"This role is not only a professional milestone, but a personal one as well. Despite being from different parts of the Pacific region, as someone from the Torres Strait Islands, I feel a strong cultural connection to Hawaii - our communities share deep respect and spiritual connection to the land, sea and sky and the strength of family and tradition."
Mills is also a longtime resident of Hawaii, having spent the past decade living on Oahu's North Shore during the NBA off-season, and it was where he married longtime partner Alyssa in 2019.
Australia's first-ever Indigenous flag bearer, at the Tokyo Olympics, will reunite with UH head coach Eran Ganot, having shared history at Saint Mary's College where Mills was a two-time all-conference guard and Ganot spent nearly a decade on the coaching staff.
"I'm truly grateful to be embraced by this community, and I'm committed to honouring that connection by serving our program and representing the values we hold dear," Mills added.
"I can't wait to get to work alongside this incredible staff to give back to the game, grow the game and help build something special for Hawaii basketball."
