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PHILADELPHIA — Pat Spencer hosted a coming-out party this week.
Against the defending champion Thunder, the reserve guard jolted the Warriors to a furious second-half comeback. He hit a fadeaway in the post over 7-footer Chet Holmgren, spammed high pick-and-rolls with as much poise as precision, hit a clutch 3-pointer, and committed no turnovers while dishing out six assists.
Despite his 17-point effort, Spencer was subbed out by Steve Kerr in favor of Brandin Podziemski for the closing four minutes.
Faced with a similar decision Thursday night against the Sixers, it was a no-brainer for Kerr to roll with Spencer.
“The other night was a tricky decision, but tonight was obvious,” Kerr said after the Warriors’ 99-98 loss. “Pat was just incredible out there. Controlled the game. He’s just about the right stuff. Organizationally, you just want to stand for something. You want to have an identity. And it’s got to be about competitive spirit, just playing together, competing. That’s what was so beautiful about what that 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 ran the show.
Spencer is embodying what the Warriors want to be: tough, smart, and competitive — all while not 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 23 of that allotment, and if he continues to play anything like this, the Warriors will need to find a way to add him to their full-time roster on a standard deal.
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He has made his case, loud and clear.
“He’s got to be out there,” Kerr said. “And it’d be great to find a way to get him on the roster, 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 brings the same energy, the same attitude the next game. It’d be great if we can find a way, but it’s a little tricky.”
The mustachioed 6-foot-2 guard, who drives a 2012 Honda CR-V, has been earning notoriety for years, converting skeptics bit by bit. He turned heads when he dropped lacrosse after becoming the NCAA’s all-time leader in assists for his ultimate dream of playing high-level basketball. He put up modest numbers in his one year at Northwestern but told his mom, “I’m not done yet,” on Senior Night. He got reps in Germany during the pandemic, rose through the G League ranks, and persevered through serious wrist and hip injuries. When he couldn’t secure a standard contract with a team this summer, he returned to prove himself to the Warriors once again.
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 run as Steph Curry’s sidelined with a bruised quad.
“Competitively, as an individual, I don’t put any limits on myself,” Spencer (opens in 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, lot of hard work. It’s still a journey. But competitively, I never doubt myself.”
His dad calls it “competitive rage.” As kids, he and his younger brother Cam, who’s with the Grizzlies, would play blacktop pickup games that would devolve into fraternal 1-on-1 matches. Those often ended not with a final score but with a shoving match.
Spencer played only one season of college basketball, at Northwestern, before starting his pro career. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
Spencer still has fire. It shows when he takes over scrimmages, when he breaks down Xs and Os like a coach at his locker or behind a podium — just about any time Kerr calls his number.
At times this year, for whatever reason, the Warriors have lacked energy. In such spells, Kerr has tended to give Spencer a chance. And Spencer has rarely disappointed.
A much improved shooter, he is hitting 3-pointers at a 39% clip. He has a 42:10 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Warriors have won 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 in as soon as a week, at which point Spencer will fall way down in the pecking order.
“We’re deep,” Spencer said after Thursday’s loss. “We got a lot of guys that can play, guys that are proven time after time. I don’t envy Steve’s job at all. I think the most important thing is finding an identity. When we have [Curry], we have a pretty clear-cut identity with how we want to play. When we don’t, we tend to slow the ball down with certain groups; other groups we have a little more pace. Right now, ultimately because of injuries, we’re trying to really find an identity. So yeah, I feel like I can be a pretty big part of that equation, but I do not envy Steve’s job.”
Converting Spencer to a standard contract is complicated. Because the Warriors used their 15th roster spot to sign Seth Curry, the team is at capacity. A trade that sends out 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 practically everyone around him, knows he’s more than that.
