Gregg Popovich on Patty Mills Not Playing Last Year: ‘He Was a Little Fat Ass’

Pop.Forever. San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich gave a hilarious response when asked about guard Patty Mills finally breaking out this season, after struggling to find consistency during the first four years of his NBA career. Per the Express-News:

“He was a little fat ass. He had too much junk in the trunk. His decision making wasn’t great, and he wasn’t in great shape. He changed his entire body. He came back svelte and cut and understood you have to make better decisions, point-guard type decisions. He did all those things better and he earned it. He’s been real important to us, obviously.”

The difference in Mills’ physique was immediately noticeable at training camp. Mills has put his new-found abs and endurance to good use, averaging 9.8 points in a career-high 18.5 minutes. Coming on 40.8-percent accuracy, Mills has more than doubled his previous career high for 3-pointers to 111. For the stat geeks, his 18.4 Player Efficiency Rating — 15.0 is average — is also a career-high, while his plus 3.2 Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus ranks 21st in the entire NBA.

Not surprisingly, Mills’ career season is coming as his contract is set to expire this summer, setting himself up for a nice little payday.