Warriors’ Pat Spencer reveals why he wears jersey No. 61

During the 2024-25 season, Pat Spencer has been a key reserve at times for the Golden State Warriors as well as a fan favorite. He definitely endeared himself to the fanbase and his teammates when he got into a brief altercation during the Houston Rockets series. During his time with the Warriors, Pat Spencer has worn jersey number 61, and he elaborated on why that is, as per KNBR.

Pat Spencer’s Warriors teammate Draymond Green said he doesn’t really look like an NBA player and his strange jersey number doesn’t help either. But that number holds special meaning to Spencer.

“Six and one is seven, I wore seven during my lacrosse run,” Spencer explained. “And then there’s 60 spots in the NBA Draft, 61 just signifies me making my own journey.”

And Spencer certainly has made his own journey in reaching the NBA. Although he played basketball in high school while attending the Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, he was equally good at lacrosse and that was how he got into college at Loyola University in Maryland.

Spencer played lacrosse at Loyala for four seasons and holds numerous accolades including winning the Tewaarton Award, the top honors bestowed upon college lacrosse players. He only played one season of college basketball, a graduate year at Northwestern that ended up being cut short due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He played professionally in Germany for a brief period before retuning stateside and joining the G League. He played one season with the Capital City Go-Go in 2021-22, and then joined the Santa Cruz Warriors where he caught the eye of the Warriors organization.

Spencer first joined the Warriors during the 2023-24 season on a two-way contract. This season, he returned on a two-way contract, but had his contract converted to a standard deal back in March.

Spencer appeared in 39 games during the regular season, at a little over six minutes per game. He averaged 2.5 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists with splits of 40.6 percent shooting from the field, 22.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 73.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

His brother Cam is also in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies.