Meet Pat Spencer, the NBA's most unlikely player who went from lacrosse legend to the League
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The Golden State Warriors have a new cult hero with a backstory that reads like fiction.
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Spencer sports a moustache that looks straight out of the 1970s (think Starsky and Hutch) and during Game 1 of Golden State's playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this week, dropped a running hook shot off the glass, adding to his throwback feel.
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Spencer sporting No. 61 on his jersey doesn't help much to make him appear like a modern player, either.
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When the play started making the rounds on social media, some wondered whether Spencer was a real player or if AI had simply improved to the point where created players out of video games could be inserted into NBA clips.
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Spencer is in fact real, though how he got here seems out of a movie.
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He was only a few months shy of his 28th birthday when he made his NBA debut last season. That doesn't happen very often. He played six games for the Warriors and a total of 26 minutes, taking only four shots.
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In 2024-25, Spencer got into 39 regular-season games for Golden State (and threw down a huge dunk over gigantic Utah centre Walker Kessler), but now surprisingly has been called on by head coach Steve Kerr for five playoff contests.
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NCAA LACROSSE RECORD HOLDER-TURNED NBA PLAYER PAT SPENCER PUT WALKER KESSLER ON A POSTER! 😳📸 pic.twitter.com/B8QvYfyf8j
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) February 6, 2025
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A bigger surprise has been Spencer shooting 15-for-21 (71.4%) in those games considering he has hit only 41% of his regular-season attempts.
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One of the most staggering parts of Spencer's story is the fact that basketball isn't even his best sport. Spencer hails from North Wales, Penn., a suburb just north of Philadelphia, and went to prep school in Maryland where he was a lacrosse sensation (while also playing basketball).
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Spencer is the NCAA's all-time lacrosse leader in assists (231) and the Patriot League's career points leader. He has won all kinds of awards, including national player of the year and the Tewaaraton Award, which is considered the Heisman Trophy for lacrosse.
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