Guarantees in life: Death, taxes and Patty Mills going crazy in the green-and-gold

TOKYO (Japan) - It's been 14 years since Patty Mills first played for the national team. And still, 5000 days later, here we are, amazed at what he's doing when it's AUSTRALIA emblazoned across his chest.

Mills had 25 points to open up his account in Tokyo, knocking down five three-pointers, with 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals to line his boxscore. Nigeria tried everything - and we mean everything - but it didn't matter.

One-on-one with the guards? He's too crafty around the screens. One-on-one against the forwards like KZ Okpala? Too fast. Switch against Precious Achiuwa? A few dribbles to ask, "may I have this dance?" before he hits you with the fastest pullup from the right dribble, not a bit slower than back in 2007 when he made his national team debut.

The best part about it? (Or, the worst, if you're the opponent?) Everybody knows what Patty Mills wants to do. Everybody knows he'll rise after a screen without the ball. Everybody knows he'll go to his right and pull up. Everybody knows he'll drive and kick. But that's what makes him great because even though everybody knows what's coming, there's just no way of stopping it.

"Patty is being relied upon more here (compared to the San Antonio Spurs). He's got tremendous confidence, he's got the ball a lot more in his hands, and it's interesting to me, our first year together was back in Beijing in 2008. We played the USA there, and our only chance was to run the middle pick and roll with Patty and Andrew Bogut, they could not defend that. He's a feature for us, for sure."

That was head coach Brian Goorjian describing his guard's role on the Australian team. And while we were eager to come up with a nickname, FIBA Patty, Boomer Patty, Green-and-Gold Mills, the 32-year-old just sighs and says:

"I am who I am."

In his head, he's always been the scorer, the man who has to have the ball in his hands and the sniper who will knock down all the dagger shots, no matter where he's playing, from Texas, USA to Saitama, Japan.

"It's just the different roles that I play, that's the easy answer."

"THE ONLY COMPARISON I COULD MAKE - GOING TO ULURU FOR THE FIRST TIME." - Patty Mills on being the flag bearer

Mills did go on to mention the word "passion" when describing his tunnel vision focus with the national team. He put up 14.2 points per game as a 20-year-old back in Beijing in 2008. He racked up a tournament-best 21.2 points per game in London in 2012, including a 39-point exhibit against the hosts. He hung up 21.3 points per game against the opposition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, trailing only Croatia's Bojan Bogdanovic. He scored 22.8 points per contest in China in 2019

Passion sounds like a reasonable explanation for his Boomer blooming. Especially when you hear him talk about the gigantic honor of being the flag bearer for Australia.

"It's one of those things where everything moves by so fast because we're in tunnel vision of what we're trying to achieve here. I think it is important for us to take a moment and let it all sink in," he said. Then took a moment. Then it sunk in.

"The opening night was special. The Opening Ceremony is the pinnacle of all things sports - especially when you talk about our country. Having that honor and privilege to carry the flag with Cate (Campbell), with all the high-caliber athletes behind us and everyone back in the Village..."

Patty then paused for a brief moment, looked up to gather his thoughts and find the right words.

"You're looking at the stadium as you're walking down the middle, and you're looking at the seats and... Cate mentioned to me, 'Sheesh, this would've been cool to have a packed stadium!' And I looked up to see the empty seats... The feeling that rushed through my body was, you could feel the presence of all of Australia sitting in those seats. Although no one was there. That was a goosebump-moment for me that the only comparison I could make is going to Uluru for the first time. That kind of breathtaking moment that you get. That's what I felt walking down."

When you know that athletes have to wait several hours before entering the stadium, those seconds down the middle of the field sometimes seem like a blink of an eye. You're done before you know it. You're already on your way back to the hotel; you're already thinking about attacking Gabe Nnamdi Vincent on off-ball screens and wondering how often will Jahlil Okafor and Precious Achiuwa switch the middle screen-roll.

Fast thought, fast world. Mills' words could serve as a reminder to all of us to stop here and there and hit that "save screenshot" button in our brains in beautiful moments like these.

"Reflecting on that was special. Coming back to see the coaching staff and all the other athletes in the Village was special. To have my teammates as well as the women's team marching and be side by side, that was a very cool moment. One that obviously I'll never forget."

 FIBA