Open Thread: Today we acknowledge Patty Mills great-uncle Eddie Mabo
On 3 June, Australians commemorate Mabo Day, aligned with the anniversary of the historic Mabo decision.
Eddie Mabo grew up in the Torres Strait. Inhabitants of the strait’s islands, which are considered Australian territory, endured segregation, government control over their movements, and wages paid in credit rather than cash for food and housing.
After Mabo learned that Australian law didn’t recognize his right to inherit land that had been passed down through generations of his family, he became the lead plaintiff in a legal challenge to the doctrine of Terra nullius, which held that Australia had been unoccupied before white Europeans began to settle the continent in 1788.
The case took a decade, but on June 3, 1992, five months after Mabo died, the High Court of Australia ruled in Mabo’s favor, enacting the concept of “native title” in Australian law. One justice wrote the pre-existing legal regime “made the indigenous inhabitants intruders in their own homes.”
Eddie Mabo was San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills’ great-uncle.
In 2014, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich specifically recognized Mabo Day before a film session during the 2014 NBA Finals. The acknowledgement touched Mills and made legions of Spurs fans aware of the plight that his ancestors had endured. The story expanded beyond The Alamo City finding itself in articles in Sports Illustrated, New York Times, and Sporting News, just to name a few.
Mills has referred to Eddie Mabo as “the Martin Luther King Jr. of Australia.”
Patty Mills may no longer be a Spurs guard, but he has been one of the longest standing members of recent history. He is also excruciatingly community minded. He thinks locally and globally and acts in the best interest of both.
Mills is currently signed for one more season to the Brooklyn Nets, but we all know how contracts go once a team loses their superstars. Be interesting to see where Mills is come October.
If ever bit by the coaching bug, I’d hope to see Mills on the Spurs sideline again.
A man can dream…
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