From the Lacrosse Field to the NBA
In 2019, Pat Spencer was anointed the best lacrosse player in America.
I mean that literally. While playing at Loyola University in Baltimore, Spencer was awarded the Tewaaraton Award, lacrosse’s version of the Heisman Trophy. By the time he graduated, he had set the NCAA Division I record for assists and ranked second all-time in points. Spencer became the first overall pick in the 2019 Premier Lacrosse League Draft.
He seemed destined for lacrosse superstardom. And then something funny happened.
Spencer quit the sport.
He decided to play basketball instead.
“Really in the grand scheme of things,” Loyola teammate Kevin Lindley told a reporter, “Lacrosse was second of his interests. Basketball was his first love.”
While Spencer was dominating the sport of lacrosse, his heart was actually elsewhere. Before practice, he would eat lunch in the gym to watch the basketball squad run drills. On road trips, he’d sit in hotel rooms watching the NBA. And had you ever walked into Loyola’s school fitness center, you probably would have seen the star athlete running pickup games with anybody who would challenge him.
"I'm pretty sure he never lifted a weight in the summertime," Loyola lacrosse coach Charley Toomey said. "He'd be playing basketball down at Truxtun Park. That was his workout, so he never came back out of shape."
When Spencer graduated from Loyola, he enrolled at Northwestern to pursue a Master’s degree and, despite having not played organized hoops since high school, soon joined the basketball team. Playing every day in the Big 10 during the 2019-2020 season, he averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. After the season, he spent time playing professionally in Germany before signing with the G-League.
This year, he averaged 14.5 points per game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s affiliate. Last Sunday, the Dubs called him up to make his NBA debut against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
From the lacrosse field to the NBA, Spencer had made his dreams come true. Only, don’t tell him that.
“I’m just getting started,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’ve necessarily made it. It’s just another step in the right direction.”
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