Aussie basketball captain/Brooklyn Nets guard Patty Mills has won one of American basketball’s most coveted gongs, the Sportsmanship Award. It recognises the player who’s been voted by his peers as best representing the ideals of sportsmanship on the court. Mills won from a 30-man shortlist – one from each NBA team selected by a panel of league executives – but the winner is chosen by players themselves. After the 33yo was short-listed for the award, his teammate Kevin Durant said “Patty puts in the work every day to be the player he is and he respects his opponent too. That is the sign of a true sportsman.” The 13-year NBA veteran – who’s had 2 technical fouls or deliberate penalties for bad play in more than 800 games – received the trophy on the weekend. It’s been a bumper couple of years for Mills, who led the Boomers to their first medal at the Olympics and was named as the Aussie athlete who’d most inspired the nation in 2021. There aren’t enough walls to dedicate to him.