Mills plea on star services
National lure for Simmons
BOOMERS veteran Patty Mills has urged Basketball Australia to improve the team’s back-room resources to secure NBA star Ben Simmons’ services on the international stage.
Simmons is yet to commit to Australia’s World Cup campaign in August and September as he looks to finalise a five-year maximum contract extension with the Philadelphia 76ers, worth a whopping $233 million.
Mills also revealed the reigning Rookie of the Year and NBA All-star has serious concerns about the Boomers’ set-up.
He said these fears were shared by the entire team.
It is understood the Boomers’ NBA players are frustrated that some of their performance demands to Basketball Australia have been knocked back due to budgetary reasons.
These requests include a personal team chef instead of eating at hotels, plus extra recovery and performance staff.
The players believe their NBA status could help Basketball Australia attract sponsors to boost their financial situation.
Basketball Australia and the Australian Basketball Association are aware of the players’ concerns and are looking to address them behind closed doors.
Mills stressed it was paramount that basketball’s powerbrokers deliver solutions to lock down Simmons.
“There are legitimate concerns that he (Ben) has and rightfully so,” Mills said.
“They’re concerns that we all have had for some time and actually had to deal with these concerns mid-tournament before.
“I guess in a very small way it is understandable, because they (Basketball Australia) have never had 11 or 12 NBA guys roll into camp. Half of us are NBA veterans.
“But Ben has mentioned that he wants to play for Australia and be a part of the team, so my personal stance to Basketball Australia is that this guy is an NBA AllStar right now and we need to do everything in our power to cater to these needs to make sure he is a part of our team.
“We have a very clear goal and we see Ben playing a major role in achieving that goal — we can’t in any way jeopardise that. Speaking amongst the boys, everyone is on that same page.
“We have upped our game, in terms of the level we are playing at, so we expect the other side of our team to be able to do the same.”