On March 8, La Laguna Tenerife raised eyebrows across European basketball by announcing the signing of Patty Mills. Yet, in many ways, the Canary Islands seemed like the perfect place for the Australian point guard to extend his remarkable career.
Under head coach Txus Vidorreta, Tenerife have built a reputation as one of the continent’s smartest and most cohesive teams, thriving on collective execution and basketball IQ rather than overwhelming athleticism. Veterans such as Marcelinho Huertas (43), Giorgi Shermadini (37), Tim Abromaitis (36) and Aaron Doornekamp (40) have formed the backbone of the club’s success over the past five years, turning the Canary Islanders into a model of continuity and experience.
Still, there were legitimate questions about Mills’ immediate impact. The 37-year-old had gone nearly a full year without appearing in an official game. His last competitive outing had come in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs’ first round, when he logged just three minutes in the Los Angeles Clippers’ victory over the Denver Nuggets, bringing to a close a 16-season, 921-game journey in the world’s premier basketball league.
In fact, several Spanish clubs had been offered the chance to sign him, only to decide against taking the risk. Tenerife made the bold call instead, and it paid off almost instantly. In his debut, Mills poured in 24 points in fewer than 23 minutes to lead the visitors past Unicaja Málaga, reminding everyone that his shooting touch and competitive fire had never gone away.
The 2014 NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs and longtime leader of Australia’s Boomers quickly became a natural fit inside Tenerife’s veteran locker room. While his years in the United States have left him with a few routines uncommon in European basketball —he works with his own performance coach and follows a pregame preparation schedule different from that of his teammates— his on-court chemistry has been immediate. In fact, Mills has been the leader of the team’s pre-game routine during the ACB playoff, carrying a portable music system around which the players do a little dance before going out onto the court.
🎶 Temazo de #PlayoffLigaEndesa…y a pista ‼️💛🖤
PD: Incluye el ritual que te gusta 👌👋 pic.twitter.com/zuWMmhf3TI
— La Laguna Tenerife (@CB1939Canarias) June 11, 2026
Within Vidorreta’s system, Mills has flourished as an elite perimeter threat, shooting better than 44 percent from three-point range since arriving on the island while maintaining a high-volume workload. His offensive production remained consistently strong throughout the season, but on June 6 he secured a permanent place in Tenerife memories.
Mills erupted for 29 points as Tenerife stunned Real Madrid in the Liga Endesa quarterfinals. Alongside Huertas (23 points) and German center Kevin Yebo (22), a late-season addition brought in for the playoffs, he spearheaded one of the biggest upsets in recent Spanish basketball history. The victory knocked the Spanish giants out before the semifinals for the first time since 2008.
Yet the source of Mills’ inspiration before becoming the executioner of one of Europe’s basketball powerhouses may come as a surprise.
“Every day, the Guanches lived in a land that demanded something from them. Steep mountains. Isolation. Wind. Scarcity.
The people who still live in Anaga today don’t stay because life is easy. There’s a toughness to that existence. A relationship with adversity.
Game 3 in Madrid is about being comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
When the game gets ugly.
When the referees get calls wrong.
When opponents grab you and try to slow you down.
When momentum shifts.
When your legs start to feel heavy.
That’s Anaga.”
That was the message Mills shared hours before facing Real Madrid with José Farrujia, historian, archaeologist and professor at the University of La Laguna. Days earlier, Farrujia had accompanied the Australian guard on a journey through the Anaga mountains as Mills sought to learn more about the roots of the Guanches, the Berber people who originally inhabited Tenerife before the Spanish conquest.
For most basketball players, a midweek excursion during the playoffs might be little more than a chance to clear the mind. For Mills, it became something much deeper: an opportunity to connect with the history of a people whose story resonated with his own.
The visit was far from a casual sightseeing tour. Mills, whose mother descends from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, has long embraced Indigenous identity as a central part of his life. Throughout his career, he has used his platform to promote awareness of Indigenous cultures and histories. He was the third Indigenous Australian athlete to represent his country at the Olympic Games and became the first Indigenous Australian to carry the national flag at an Olympic opening ceremony, doing so at Tokyo 2020.
Guided through sites linked to Tenerife’s pre-Hispanic past, Mills sought to understand how the Guanches lived, adapted and survived in a demanding environment. He listened to explanations about their customs, social structures and profound connection to the land, finding echoes of experiences familiar to Indigenous communities in Australia.
What struck him most was their resilience. The dramatic peaks and isolated valleys of Anaga offered a window into a way of life shaped by endurance, resourcefulness and collective strength. For Mills, those lessons extended far beyond history.
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As someone who has spent nearly two decades competing at the highest level of professional basketball, he immediately connected those values to the demands of elite competition. Success, he reflected, often emerges from the same qualities that allowed ancient communities to endure: adaptability, unity and the ability to remain steadfast through adversity.
Those who accompanied him during the visit described a player genuinely interested in learning rather than simply observing. Mills asked questions, engaged deeply with the historical context and reflected on the connections between Indigenous cultures separated by thousands of miles and centuries of history.
In Tenerife, that philosophy found a natural meeting point with the island’s own heritage. Although Aboriginal Australians and the Guanches belong to different worlds, their histories share common themes of identity, cultural preservation and resilience. For Mills, exploring those connections became more than an educational experience. It was a reminder that the search for one’s roots can transcend geography, linking communities through shared values and collective memory.
🤪 @Patty_Mills empieza a sentir el picorcito
9 puntos en sus cinco minutos del segundo cuarto pic.twitter.com/ffGpvagcWg
— Gigantes del Basket (@GIGANTESbasket) June 6, 2026
During his visit to Anaga, Mills received several gifts, including two limpet shells —a mollusc commonly found along Tenerife’s coastline— and a traditional utensil once used by the Guanches in their daily diet.
More importantly, he found the inner motivation that would help him rise above adversity and eliminate one of the best teams in Europe.