What’s in a number?
For Patty Mills, the number eight means a lot. Save for 13 games with the Miami Heat last season — when he wore No. 88 — the 16-year NBA veteran has worn No. 8 for his entire career. But when he signed with the Utah Jazz a month ago, that number was already taken by second-year player Brice Sensabaugh.
Mills took action.
“Hey, mate, you attached to the number eight or not?” Mills remembered asking Sensabaugh in one of their first conversations.
It turns out that there’s a lot more than just familiarity at play for Mills with the No. 8.
Mills introduces himself as “Patty Mills, a Gugada Nagyagaou and a Dauer Meriam man of Australia,” noting his descent as both an Aboriginal Australian and a Torres Strait Islander. Mer, the most eastern island of the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, hosts eight Meriam tribes: Komet, Zagareb, Meuram, Magaram, Geuram, Peibre, Meriam-Samsep, Piadram, and Mills’ Dauer Meriam.
In Meriam culture, the legend of Malo is passed down. Malo, a god-like figure, crossed the Torres Strait from the north and arrived at Mer, where Malo turned himself into an octopus. There, he became the supernatural deity of the eight Mer tribes.
“For me to wear the number eight, just like my uncle did — I feel like I’m representing my family and my people back home in Australia,” Mills said.
Mills also noticed a similarity between his native heritage and that of his new home. Utah, like Mer, also has eight sovereign tribal nations: the Confederated Tribes of Goshute, Navajo Nation, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute, Skull Valley Band of Goshute, White Mesa Community of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe.
“When you’re in a spiritual culture like that, you find a lot of relevance and connections with numbers and the land and the sky and the mountains and the oceans. So I think it just plays a little bit deeper into playing with a lot more passion and pride,” Mills said.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah forward Brice Sensabaugh (8) leads a fast break for the Jazz, in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics, at the Delta Center, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
Sensabaugh was OK with giving up the number, and chose a new number for his jersey: No. 28. It’s no coincidence that the 20-year-old was selected with the No. 28 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and — like Rudy Gobert and the No. 27 before him — Sensabaugh wants to use his new number for motivation.
And, like Mills, Sensabaugh said he had a spiritual reason for giving the number up.
“Something inside of me said to give it up just because of the respect. I’m also big on my faith. I have a lot of things that are tied to me with the number 28,” Sensabaugh said. “God told me to give it up to him just because I’m not really tied to the number. I’ve learned always not to hold tightly onto earthly things too much, just because I believe that we have eternal life after this game of basketball. The number didn’t really mean that much to me, so I was able to put whatever aside and just give it up to him.”
Both players were happy with the outcome — and in having the conversation, both learned a lot about the other. Sensabaugh said his respect for Mills grew once he learned about the Australian’s heritage and culture. Mills, meanwhile, said he plans on taking Sensabaugh under his wing.
“He’s a young boy from Orlando ... [and] there’s a lot of motivation I feel from him coming up,” Mills said. “He’s eager to learn. He’s eager to get better. And having that fire in his belly, I think he’ll be great.”
Mentorship’s not all, though. There’s one more benefit to Sensabaugh for being gracious with his number selection — though we’ll have to wait to learn what it is.
“I’ll look after him,” Mills said. “I won’t ruin the surprise just yet.”
