The 32-year-old hoops wizard carried the weight of the Australian flag into the opening ceremony in his fourth Olympics, but it's the weight he lifted that will bookmark his legacy as one of the greatest athletes this country has produced.

Four times the Boomers had finished fourth at an Olympics. It started to have the look of death and taxes as far as inevitability goes, but Mills had other ideas in dropping 42 points and eight assists in a 102-86 win over Slovenia in Saturday's bronze-medal showdown.

It was a watershed moment for the country that had competed in 14 previous Olympics without standing on the podium and an exclamation point on the legacy of Australia's greatest basketball coach Brian Goorjian, who can add the country's first international podium finish to his six NBL championships.

While the Boomers camp made no secret of its gold-medal ambitions going in, the Aussies produced a history-making bounce-back from what could have been a crippling 19-point defeat to eventual gold-medalists USA in Thursday's semi-final.

Asked what message he had for dad Benny, mum Yvonne and wife Alyssa, an emotional Mills paused and then offered this while holding back tears.

"Umm ... sitting at home right now. It's time to bring an Olympic medal home," Mills said, voice quivering.

"Back to our country, Australia, so I can hang it up at mum and dad's place."

Mills wasn't the only one crying. Australian great Andrew Gaze broke down trying to describe his pride and basketball's journey in the country.

Mills has championed Australia's push for a medal since making his debut as a teenager, paying tribute to Gaze, Andrew Bogut and Danny Morseu as laying the foundations.

But now many regard Mills as the leader of the Australian Olympic team, such is his passion for the Boomers and his country.

He has been working to win a medal for the past 13 years and had come so close on multiple occasions. So it was understandable he broke down in the arms of teammates and coaches when the ball fittingly finished in his hands when the final buzzer sounded.

Mills will be odds-on to win a second NBA championship ring when he joins US kingpin Kevin Durant at the Brooklyn Nets next season but, knowing him the way we all do, it would not surpass the bronze he claimed with a career-defining knock.

"We've been waiting for this moment for a long time,' Mills told Channel 7.

"There's been a lot experiences, a lot of ups, a lot of downs, for us to get over the hump. It's our culture at the end of the day, Australian culture, our Aussie spirit, the boys being able to hang together and understanding what it means to represent your country and how deep the layers go.

"Now we've made it over the hill, this is the standard now of Australian basketball for men and we'll take nothing less. We say that 'gold vibes only' is the standard and we won't accept anything less, on the court and off the court.

"I don't know whether to cry, laugh, smile, there's a lot of emotions. For us older guys who've been through a lot, for the younger boys that have come into this, they really understand now what it means to be a Boomer and hopefully the rest of the country does as well."

Joe Ingles fell just short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds, while new San-Antonio Spurs big-man Jock Landale had 14 points, but this was Mills' show.

Ingles had the first four and Mills first three saw the Aussies shoot out to an early 9-2 lead before Slovenian talisman Luka Doncic grabbed his first points with a three-point play.

He had another three on a 15-4 run that saw Slovenia take a brief lead until Chris Goulding hit a huge three from the bench to stem the bleeding.

A steal and slam from Mattise Thybulle gave the Boomers a one-point lead at quarter-time that jumped out to four on Mills's second three to start the second. Slovenia went 9-5 to re-take a three-point lead that forced Goorjian into a timeout with his team at 4-15 from deep.

Kay traded threes with Zoran Dragic with Mills also grabbing a triple to lock the scores at 31 apiece. Mills kept the run going with 15 of his team's 19 points midway through the term.

A Landale gimme on an assist from Thybulle pushed the Aussies lead to six and forced Slovenia in a timeout to halt a 16-7 run. It did nothing to halt the momentum, with Mills grabbing a steal and lay-up in transition as the lead went out to double digits for the first time.

The runs continued, with Slovenia going 10-3 before Thybulle finished a three-point play and slammed home a transition bucket for an eight-point cushion at halftime.

Slovenia had no answers for Mills, who had 36 through two and half quarters, including 10 for the term forcing Slovenia into a timeout with the margin at double digits with two minutes left quarter.

The back and forth continued down the stretch of the quarter before Ingles had the final say with key triple that gave the Boomers an 11-point cushion at the final break.

Goulding nailed a transition three for a 14-point lead early in the fourth before back to back questionable offensive fouls helped Slovenia to an 8-0 run that cut the margin back to six with seven minutes to play.

Doncic had another couple as Slovenia cut things back to three midway through the term before Mills steadied from the line and put Exum's first three on a platter.

Exum followed up with a fast-break slam to put the margin back to nine before Doncic put back to back triples to bring things back to six.

Ingles had another three and Mills's 42^nd point forced Slovenia into another timeout with three minutes left but it was a mere speed bump on the Aussies route to a maiden Olympic medal.