The Golden State Warriors have relied on Pat Spencer more than expected in the playoffs, and he wasn’t sure he would even play basketball.
The Golden State Warriors needed seven games, but they were able to beat the second-seeded Houston Rockets in the first round. In the first game of their Western Conference semifinal against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Stephen Curry suffered a hamstring strain and did not return, and has been ruled out for at least three games.
In both the first and second rounds, the Warriors have called on reserve Pat Spencer to play a bigger role. Spencer spent most of the season on a two-way deal before being promoted to a standard contract after the trade deadline.
In the regular season, Spencer averaged 2.5 points in six minutes of play. In the postseason, he is posting 6.4 points and was a main source of energy against the Rockets.
Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty ImagesPat Spencer almost didn’t play basketball
Spencer, a standout athlete in high school in Maryland, committed to play lacrosse at Loyola Maryland. He was then drafted first overall by the Archers Lacrosse Club in the 2019 PLL Draft, although he passed up a professional career for a single season of college basketball at Northwestern University.
Spencer revealed, alongside his brother who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, that he did not expect to ever play basketball at a high level.
“I felt like I had a better chance, and lacrosse is probably the more viable option to play in college at a high level at that height,” he revealed on Thursday. “
So, our old man grew quite late. So we both had later growth spurts, but just wanted to give myself a chance to compete at a really high level at the collegiate level. And so I had to take the lacrosse route over hoops. And then obviously put basketball on the back burner to get to where I’m at today.”
Spencer averaged only 10.4 points in his lone college basketball season for a Wildcats team that finished with an 8-23 record. After that, he spent a season with the Hamburg Towers in the German League, and then came over to the G League, before an eventual entry into the NBA.
Spencer almost had his basketball dream ruined
In 2020, Spencer claims that a team was in contact with him to bring him stateside so he could play for their G League squad, although the Covid shutdown put an end to that.
“I had an agreement with the team for six months, right after college, they said, ‘We want you to come be a part of our G League team.’ Didn’t get anything in writing, just had continued communication with them,” he continued.
“And, about two to three weeks before the G League was going to the Bubble, they called and said, ‘Hey, our hands are tied. The NBA is forcing us to take the two-way guys from other teams.’ So, ended up having to reroute my journey to Europe because I just felt like I couldn’t have a blank year on my resume.
“I had, you know, one year of college hoops and a ton to work on. And I just didn’t feel like having a blank year on the resume was the right thing to do.”
In Germany, like in college, Spencer wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. In five games, he averaged 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game before finally signing with the Capital City Go-Go and starting his NBA career.