How a coffee and Patty Mills raises money for family violence prevention

The NBA point guard has turned his isolation Mother's Day into a chance to raise money for a good cause, taking to social media to support the San Antonio Battered Women and Children's Shelter.

The San Antonio Express said Mills went out of his way to call the chief executive of the shelter with a vision to help groups who have been affected by coronavirus.

The plan will involve eight coffee shops in San Antonio. Mills has pledged to double the sales for the day and make the donation to the Family Violence Prevention Services Centre.

"If there are two things I love more than anything in the world, they're probably 1: my mum and 2: coffee," Mills said.

"It's being able to use my platform to bring everyone together, share some good vibes and at the same time be able to make an impact on things that really matter. The most important thing is we must teach our youth respect so that they can give respect."

The 31-year-old has been the driving force behind the Spurs' coffee gang and is using his profile as the franchise's longest-serving player to create awareness in the community via the "give mama coffee" drive.

"What I'm trying to do here is to be able to support our community, and then be able to have a little bit of a domino effect on this country and also the world," Mills said. "I believe in teamwork and community. Because unity is strength."

Mills has established himself as one of Australia's most respected athletes, but not just because of his feats in the world's best basketball competition.

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He is an indigenous leader, flew back to Australia help the south coast bushfire recovery earlier this year and is tipped to be Australia's flag-bearer at the Olympic Games next year.

Meanwhile, a handful of NBA teams are in the process of receiving permission from local US government officials to test players and staff for coronavirus, even if they are asymptomatic.

The news comes as players have started to return to team facilities in advance of what could be the resumption of the 2019-20 basketball season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers both opened their facilities for players on Thursday.

ESPN have reported that the Orlando Magic have received permission from the Orange County (Fla.) Department of Health to test asymptomatic staff, according to the report.

In addition, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are expected to be allowed to administer coronavirus tests to players and staff that attend workouts.

Teams will only conduct coronavirus testing for anybody asymptomatic if there is a vibrant testing program in their particular area for people at risk, such as health care workers.

Initially, it was expected that asymptomatic individuals at NBA facilities would not be allowed to get testing.

The league was reportedly hesitant to test people not showing coronavirus symptoms because of the perception that the league was using tests that could otherwise go to people in the community.

Other protocols will be in place at practice facilities such as temperature checks.