Patty Mills says he texted Coach Pop at 4 a.m. about leaving Spurs

SAITAMA, JAPAN – AUGUST 07: Team United States Head Coach Gregg Popovich poses with Team Australia’s Patty Mills during the Men’s Basketball medal ceremony on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Saitama Super Arena on August 07, 2021 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Patty Mills is giving fans an inside look at what transpired behind the scenes of his August 2021 exit. As he makes his first trip to San Antonio wearing an opposing jersey, he’s opening up about his decision to leave in a recent Q&A interview with NBA.com. 

Mills spent a decade in San Antonio and was part of the 2014 championship team before leaving for the Brooklyn Nets last summer. He was able to experience the Beautiful Game with the Big Three and then guided the new generation of Spurs after the icons retired. Off the court, he became a San Antonio favorite and he tells the website the local connection is not lost on him. 

In the Q&A, he says he expects to feel emotional upon his return to San Antonio but will stay focused on performing for his new team. Mills also shares what his head space was like in the hours leading up to the exit. Career jumps are always nerve-wracking, but consider making the decision while you’re competing in the Olympics, then add a layer of telling your boss, the venerable coach Gregg Popovich, that you’re leaving. 

Oof. 

Mills tells ESPN he made the decision after Australia beat Argentina in the quarterfinal game of the Olympics. He ate dinner, settled in, collected his thoughts and chose Brooklyn. By that time it was around 4 a.m. Tokyo time. He knew he had to tell Pop before word got out in the states. Considering the time, he didn’t feel comfortable cold-calling Pop. 

“But I just sent [Popovich] a text and let him know about what I was feeling and how I thought it was strange timing and very hard timing,” he says. “But I just wanted to let him know what I wanted to do, assuming that I wasn’t going to [tell him in person].

Mills didn’t expected to get a response until later, but the coach responded within three minutes. 

“It was one of those things where you send the text, have mixed feelings about sending the text in the first place, then, you put your phone on the bedside table,” he answers. “All of the sudden, before you can fall asleep, the phone vibrates and you’ve got a text back from him.”

Pop told Mills that he loved him and understood, the former Spurs player says. Since Popovich and Patty were at the Olympics, they were able to eventually catch up in person. The solid ending to his Spurs tenure gave him the confidence to pack his bags for New York, but leaving wasn’t easy, he adds. 

“It’s one of the hardest things about the NBA,” Mills says. “When you grow to become close to people, it makes it hard to leave.”

San Antonio fans reciprocated the feels when he left and will wear their hearts on their sleeves again Friday night as the Spurs host Mills and his new team. Welcome home parties have been organized by fans and the Spurs are planning special video montages for Mills and LaMarcus Aldridge. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m.