Pat Spencer is playing in the NBA playoffs for the first time. He made sure to make his presence felt.
The former Boys’ Latin and Loyola Maryland lacrosse star was ejected in the final minutes of Wednesday night’s Western Conference first-round Game 5 between Spencer’s Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets after head-butting Rockets center Alperen Şengün.
With 4:14 to play and the Warriors trailing by 13, Spencer, a 28-year-old reserve guard, was whistled for a foul on Dillon Brooks while wrestling for control of the ball underneath the basket. As Spencer walked back toward midcourt, he bumped into Şengün, and the two immediately met face-to-face while exchanging words. Spencer then attempted to push Şengün away with his forehead, while teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis stepped in and shoved Şengün, sending the All-Star center flying backward.
Pat Spencer ejected for headbutt on Sengun
pic.twitter.com/BqijgTXmp6
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) May 1, 2025
Players, coaches and officials rushed in to separate the potential fracas as Spencer walked back toward the Golden State bench.
After an official review, Spencer, Jackson-Davis and Şengün were each assessed a technical foul, and Spencer was ejected from the game.
“He’s talking too much,” Brooks said of Spencer when asked about the altercation after the game.
The moment earned admiration from the Warriors’ bench, with Draymond Green clapping in encouragement and later giving Spencer a hug before he left the court. Jimmy Butler also talked to Spencer before he exited the game. The Warriors still lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2, with Game 6 in San Francisco on Friday.
“Beautiful,” Green told reporters after the game. “We don’t back down from anybody and they [Spencer and Jackson-Davis] didn’t. I like it.”
Pat (not Cam) Spencer just got some street cred from Draymond Green. Brandin Podziemski seems pretty entertained by the ejection as well. #Warriors | #DubNation pic.twitter.com/vKIEyN455q
— Matt Lively (@mattblively) May 1, 2025
With the Warriors trailing for much of the night and by as many as 31 points in the eventual 131-116 loss, Spencer played 14 minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting with four rebounds, two assists and a steal. It marked the second playoff game appearance for the Davidsonville resident, who won the Tewaaraton Award honoring the nation’s top lacrosse player at Loyola before playing basketball in college at Northwestern and getting a shot in the NBA, first with the Capital City Go-Go of the G League.
After making his NBA debut and playing six games with the Warriors last season, Spencer averaged 6.4 minutes in 39 games this season, recording 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.
Spencer’s younger brother Cam, who played basketball at Boys’ Latin and Loyola Maryland before transferring to UConn and winning a national championship, was drafted in the 2024 second round by the Detroit Pistons and traded to Memphis Grizzlies. He made his debut this season, averaging 4.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25 games, but was sidelined for three weeks by a fractured thumb.
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