SA Spurs: Patty Mills pens heartfelt messages, fans respond

It's understandable that it took Patty Mills a while to truly say goodbye to the San Antonio Spurs and their fans. After all, the last 665 times he laced up his shoes in the NBA, he was donning the Silver and Black.

The 32-year old Aussie just wrapped up his 10th season in San Antonio but is now on his way to a team that should be a real championship contender for a few years. While it was ultimately the right call for both sides, his separation will leave lasting emotions for both throughout the rest of his basketball career.

As someone who left it all on the court every night and did even more off of it, Patty will forever have a special place in the Alamo City. If he doesn't ultimately have his jersey number retired, he'll at least be given a park or street name in his honor before too long -- he was that special.

Tuesday night, Mills changed his Twitter profile picture to a black-and-white shot of him walking through a team hallway in Spurs gear, along with some familiar lyrics for Texans.

Understandably, many Spurs fans immediately felt like someone was cutting onions nearby.

As if that wasn't enough, he then shared a highlight reel of his biggest on and off-court moments with the Spurs, including an appearance from Santa Mills.

Fan reactions, once again, were what you'd expect.

There's a lot to say for what Patty accomplished on the court for the Silver and Black. For the franchise, he finishes seventh in total games played, second in 3-point field goals (3,011), and first in free throw percentage (86.7).

Still, what Mills did for the community somehow surpasses all that by miles. Good on ya, Patty. We'll see you at the AT&T Center on January 21st, and who knows -- maybe as a member of the coaching staff in the future.