NBA star Patty Mills has called on Basketball Australia to make a "long overdue move" to recognise the sport's indigenous history, throwing his weight behind a push for NRL and AFL-style recognition rounds.
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The San Antonio Spurs' point guard also hinted at the idea of the Australian men's and women's teams wearing indigenous playing strips in the coming years.
The Illawarra Hawks will wear an indigenous jersey for the first time when they play the Sydney Kings in an NBL clash in Wollongong on Sunday.
Mills has taken the initiative global, wearing the jersey into the Spurs' stadium for their NBA clash against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, praising the Wollongong club and hoping others follow their lead.
Mills has also thrown his support behind the Canberra Capitals, who have designed the first indigenous jersey in their history and will wear it against the Perth Lynx on Sunday.
"The NBL has done some great things in recent times. Would be great to see them follow the [Illawarra Hawks] and support an Indigenous Round so the whole league across two countries can be involved in celebrating this significant event," Mills said on Twitter.
"It's also time [Basketball Australia] does the same to acknowledge the Indigenous people, communities and history of Australia through our sport.
"Michael Ahmatt - 1964 Tokyo Olympics (first Indigenous person to represent Australia in basketball)."
The Hawks will take an important step when they wear their special jersey, designed to promote inclusion and celebrate indigenous culture, in their match against the Sydney Kings on Sunday.
Mills is proud of the work the Hawks have done, which has been described as a "landmark moment" for basketball. The NBL says it is supportive of the initiative, but Mills called for more action.
"Screen shots of the media release is cool but I was talking about the NBL taking charge of an entire round," Mills tweeted in reply to an NBL message.
"Both NRL and AFL are great examples, now it's basketball's turn because it's long overdue."
Mills, a 10-season NBA veteran, has used his profile to become an indigenous role model and was recognised as the NAIDOC person of the year in 2017.
On the court he has developed into a basketball leader for the Spurs as they navigate their way through a changing of the guard at the franchise.
He is averaging 9.8 points and 2.7 assists in just under 25 minutes per game and coach Gregg Popovich described the Canberra junior as "the ultimate warrior" last month.
"He gives everything he's got all the time ... just a wonderful teammate. He's a huge part of everything we are," Popovich said.
The 30-year-old helped the Spurs to a 125-87 win against the Clippers on Thursday, but the Spurs are still fighting to stay in the play-off race.
"It was always going to take time for us to gel, but it wasn't going to happen without the effort from each and every one of us," Mills said.
"I think you see that on the defensive end now in the trust that we have in each other and then the way the ball has been moving the last few games. There's the evidence. Everyone is ... starting to buy into the way we want to play, the Spurs way."
Asked about the Hawks jersey he was wearing, he said: "This one's an indigenous round, with the Illawarra Hawks. They're doing an indigenous round so I'm sporting this for a great cause. I can give it to you if you want."
