Patty Mills put the Hawks first ever Indigenous jersey on global show when the club launches its own initiative in December 2018.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 and where I could buy one for a Christmas present?
00:02 This one on the marine?
00:03 Oh, this one's an Indigenous round.
00:04 It's with the Illawarra Hawks, a national team in the NBL back home.
00:09 They're doing an Indigenous round, so I'm sporting this for a great cause.
00:13 So, yeah, good stuff.
00:15 I can give it to you if you want.
00:16 [laughter]
00:18 About a year ago, a little bit over a year ago,
00:24 Tyson Deimos, along with the Illawarra Hawks,
00:26 took the initiative and control of having an Indigenous game
00:32 where they were able to promote both cultures,
00:35 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders,
00:38 and acknowledge those that have contributed to basketball
00:44 throughout the NBL.
00:45 For him to be the one to take control and take ownership
00:50 of having an Indigenous round within the NBL,
00:54 especially with his childhood club, the Illawarra Hawks,
00:59 was very impactful, I think, for not only for him and his family,
01:06 but for his friends, his peers,
01:09 and especially for me seeing from afar.
01:14 For me, it was just being able to jump on board
01:16 and do whatever I can to promote this game
01:19 that was already planned and about to happen.
01:23 How could I help Tyson and the Illawarra Hawks
01:27 get the word out about what they're doing?
01:29 The next 24 hours after, you know,
01:32 Paddy had posted that on all of his socials,
01:35 it gained so much traction.
01:36 And, you know, something that we really wanted to do
01:39 was push the NBL into having this as an annual event.
01:43 You know, through that, through the traction and the support
01:47 through community, Indigenous communities
01:49 throughout Australia, you know,
01:51 here we are about to hold the first Indigenous NBL round.
01:58 So, something that I'm obviously very, very proud of
02:01 and very thankful for and very excited to be a part of.
02:06 [BLANK_AUDIO]