A couple of former Spurs prove that one of the keys to NBA longevity is being a good guy

Patty Mills and Cory Joseph have stayed in the league past their best years because they bring more than just on-court impact to the table. Hopefully San Antonio can continue to find players in their mold.

The first round of the playoffs has featured a lot of familiar faces for Spurs fans. Most of the attention has probably — and understandably — been paid to Derrick White, a key piece on a bona fide contender, and Kawhi Leonard, who has looked like his prime self for stretches. Those two left a mark in San Antonio, for better or for worse, and are relevant to NBA discourse.

Other former Spurs are kicking around, but not in major roles. Still, it has been a joy to see two guys who were a part of something special in San Antonio still in the league. Their presence on NBA rosters shows that being a professional and, in general, a good guy is a smart way to carve out a long career.

The first example is unsurprisingly Patty Mills. The 36-year-old combo guard has been on four teams over the past two years and didn’t log 500 minutes in either season. Mills can probably hit a few threes and annoy a ball handler on defense in extremely short bursts, but his time as an impactful role player on the court is over. Yet he’s still in the league, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in it next season because he’s a fantastic teammate. He had to be a leader in Utah and was up to the task.

“The conversations he had with a lot of our young players were impactful on them, but I also think that he modeled behavior that we want to see from everybody,” Jazz coach and former Spurs assistant Will Hardy said after the trade that sent Mills and Drew Eubanks to Los Angeles. “The way he carried himself, the way he was diligent about his work every day, whether he was in the rotation or not, he prepared every single day the same way. And I think that that’s something that his teammates for sure saw.”

Now that he’s with the veteran Clippers, Mills has gone back to a familiar role: keeping the vibes up. He gained some notoriety back when he wasn’t playing in San Antonio years ago with his towel-waving celebrations. Years later, after winning championships and becoming one of his generation’s most beloved role players, he is still fine with being a part of something.

Another guard in a playoff team, now eliminated, who perhaps not coincidentally spent time with the Spurs at the same time as Mills, is Cory Joseph. Looking at his career stats, an unbiased observer could wonder how he has stayed in the league for 14 years. He has no season averaging double-digits in scoring, has never posted an assist percentage close to 30, is a mediocre shooter on low volume, and is not a lockdown defender. He’s played in his first playoffs in six years only because Orlando is missing Jalen Suggs. Why does he still have a roster spot in the NBA? Harrison Barnes answered that before the Spurs faced the Magic on April 1.

“The unique thing about Cory, which he’s done, and the thing that I try to tell our guys in our locker room is that people don’t stay in this league that long without providing value,” Barnes said of his former teammate in Sacramento. “And there can only be one or two 20-point scorers in every team, there’s always going to be one or two All-Stars on every team, right? So that leaves a lot of opportunity for guys to bring value in other ways. And Cory has done that throughout his career.”

“He might have to guard the best point guard on the other team, or the best perimeter guy in every team, and he might have four points, six rebounds and three assists, but his effort and energy was what won a game,” Barnes also said. “So I think there’s always value in guys who can go out and impact the game without necessarily having some absurd stat line.”

The joy of knowing those consummate professionals and overall nice dudes are still in the league is not about claiming their longevity and success as a result of being Spurs. It’s also not to insult them by saying that the only reason they are still around is because of their high character. Both were adults when they joined the franchise and were productive for a decade before declining.

The point of highlighting the great careers Mills and Joseph carved out for themselves, with help from the Spurs, is to remember that there’s more to success than talent and there are intangibles that matter to teammates, coaches, and general managers and can determine the legacy players leaves behind as much as their skills.

Years from now, when it’s time to take stock after this very promising era ends, hopefully we’ll be able to look back and find that the new Spurs, like the old, had unique talents but also a few Patty Millses and Cory Josephs, who might not have been stars but had plenty of admirable traits that not only San Antonio but the rest of the league could easily recognize.