The Brooklyn Nets star has the power to unite, rather than divide, even when he's tackling sensitive issues like racism and inequality.

Not to mention the charity work he doe in times of crisis, like Australia's devastating bushfires from almost two years ago.

Canberra's basketball star has been nominated for the ACT Australian of the Year award for both his playing career and his work in making the world a better place through his fight against racism and inequality.

He was the 2015 ACT Young Australian of the Year, he set up the Team Mills Foundation - which supports culture, diversity and underprivileged families - created Indigenous Basketball Australia and donated $1.5 million in 2020 to organisations tackling racial inequality.

And then he inspires with the whole-hearted way he plays the game every time he steps on the court.

Andrew Gaze, one of Australia's greatest basketballers, said Mills was a role model, not just for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islands kids, but for all Australian kids. And Brooklyn ones too.

It's what makes Mills special well beyond the starring role he's currently playing in his first season with the Nets - having already helped the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA championship in 2014.

And that's in the absence of one of the team's biggest stars, with Kyrie Irving currently sidelined for refusing to get vaccinated.

Speaking before learning of Mills' nomination, Gaze said: "The way he uses his platform to bring people together rather than divide, the way he speaks with such a positive tone and the appropriate way he alerts people to some very, very important and significant causes for our country - he does it spectacularly well.

"As all Australians we're incredibly proud of what he does on the floor, but also the way he represents us.

"He's a role model for every Australian, for kids growing up in Brooklyn.

"He's not one that's out there dividing, he's uniting and doing that - but still maintaining his values and what he represents - and I think that sometimes goes underrated about what he does because he is such an exceptional basketball player."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

Mills has had an electric start to the NBA season, setting a new three-point record by hitting his first 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

Gaze felt the Nets were benefiting from the momentum Mills brought into the season after an historic Olympic Games, where the Boomers won their first ever medal.

That bronze was expected to spark a new generation of Aussie basketball stars.

Mills' momentum from that bronze medal was also part of the reason Gaze felt Brooklyn were genuine contenders for the NBA championship.

"Absolutely, they're reaping the benefits of that [bronze medal] and they've got Kevin Durant, who was part of the [USA] gold medal," he said.

"They started the season as one of the favorites and are still one of the favourites.

"They've got a very, very talented team and if they get all the pieces together then there's no reason to think why they wouldn't be a championship contender."

And that's without Irving.

Mills was brought in to complement Irving, one of the best players in the NBA, but he's been required to do a lot more than that in Irving's absence.

The NBA's mandated COVID-19 vaccination for all the players - something Irving's opted against and he's been stood down as a result.

But Mills has stepped up to help fill his sneakers.

"No one would dispute the Brooklyn Nets are better off with Kyrie Irving than they are without him so it's certainly a setback," Gaze said.

"But they've been able to put together a roster that can cover when some of their marquee players are not available.

"[The Nets would] be delighted to have [Mills], not just for what he brings on the floor, but in an environment right now where the distraction that Kyrie Irving is having it is what he brings to the culture of the team, the standards, the camaraderie - all those things that he's renowned for - they'd be delighted to have him given the circumstances they now face."