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PHILADELPHIA – Pat Spencer had a coming out party this week.
Against the defending champion Thunder, the reserve guard propelled the Warriors to a furious second-half comeback. He hit a fadeaway in the post to 7-foot Chet Holmgren, spammed high pick-and-rolls with equal assurance and precision, hit a clutch 3-pointer and committed no turnovers while dishing out six assists.
Despite his 17-point effort, Spencer was replaced by Steve Kerr in favor of Brandin Podziemski for the final four minutes.
Facing a similar decision Thursday night against the Sixers, it was a no-brainer for Kerr to team up with Spencer.
“The other night it was a tricky decision, but tonight it was a no-brainer,” Kerr said. said after the Warriors’ 99-98 loss. “Pat was just incredible. He controlled the game. He just has what it takes. Organizationally, you just want to stand for something. You want to have an identity. And it has to be about a competitive spirit, just playing together, competing. That’s what was so beautiful about what this group did down the stretch.”
Spencer played every second of the fourth quarter and finished with 16 points, four assists and four rebounds. For the second straight game, Golden State’s offense was at its best when he was running the show.
Spencer embodies what the Warriors want to be: tough, smart and competitive – without even being a full-time player. Because Spencer is on a two-way contract, he can be active for 50 games this season. He’s already burned through 23 of that allocation, and if he continues to play anything like that, the Warriors will have to find a way to add him to their roster full-time on a standard deal.
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He made his points loud and clear.
“He needs to be out there,” Kerr said. “And it would be great to find a way to get him on the team, because he’s kind of the perfect guy to have as a backup. He can win you games, like he almost did tonight. But if he doesn’t play, he’ll bring the same energy, the same attitude the next game. It would be great if we can find a way, but it’s a little tricky.”
The 6-foot-2 mustachioed guard, who drives a 2012 Honda CR-V, has been gaining notoriety for years, gradually converting skeptics. He turned heads when he gave up lacrosse after becoming the NCAA’s all-time leader in assists for his ultimate dream of playing high-level basketball. He posted modest numbers during his freshman year at Northwestern, but told his mother, “I’m not done yet” on Senior Night. He got reps in Germany during the pandemic, rose through the ranks of the G League and persevered through serious wrist and hip injuries. When he was unable to secure a standard contract with a team this summer, he returned once again to prove himself to the Warriors.
His rise from college lacrosse legend to the NBA is straight out of a sports movie.
Except it’s real. And this act is a Linsanity-lite ride as Steph Curry is sidelined with a bruised quad.
“In competition, as an individual, I set no limits for myself” Spencer (opens in a new tab)said when he first joined the Warriors as a two-way player in 2024. “I knew it was going to be a long journey, a lot of hard work. It’s always a journey. But in competition, I never doubt myself.”
His father calls it “competitive rage.” When they were kids, he and his younger brother Cam, who is with the Grizzlies, played black road pickup games that turned into one-on-one brotherly matches. These often ended not in a final score but in a scramble.
Spencer still has fire. It shows when he takes charge of scrimmages, when he breaks down the Xs and Os like a coach in his locker or behind a podium – pretty much every time Kerr calls his number.
Sometimes this year, for whatever reason, the Warriors have lacked energy. In such times, Kerr tended to give Spencer a chance. And Spencer has rarely disappointed.
A much-improved shooter, he hits 3-pointers at a 39% rate. He has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 42:10. The Warriors earned his minutes by 11 points (sixth best on the team).
As long as Curry is out, there are minutes to be had – minutes for Spencer to take. But Curry could return as early as a week, after which Spencer will fall very low in the hierarchy.
“We’re deep,” Spencer said after Thursday’s loss. “We have a lot of guys who can play, guys who have proven themselves time and time again. I don’t envy Steve’s work at all. I think the most important thing is to find an identity. When we have [Curry]we have a pretty clear identity as to how we want to play. When we don’t do this, we tend to slow down the pace with certain groups; in the other groups, we have a little more rhythm. Right now, ultimately because of the injuries, we’re trying to really find an identity. So yeah, I feel like I can play a pretty big role in that equation, but I don’t envy Steve’s work.
Converting Spencer to a standard contract is complicated. Because the Warriors used their 15th pick to sign Seth Curry, the team is at capacity. A trade that sends more players than the Warriors receive would create a vacancy, but that likely won’t happen until mid-January at the earliest.
So Spencer will remain a two-way player for now, even though he, and virtually everyone around him, knows he’s more than that.
