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Pat and Cam Spencer are the NBA's unknown (and surprising) brother duo
Golden State Warriors guard Pat Spencer. Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Pat and Cam Spencer are the NBA's unknown (and surprising) brother duo

Steph Curry and his brother Seth may be teammates, but there's a different Golden State Warriors guard with a talented brother tearing up the NBA right now.

Pat Spencer scored in double digits in five straight games with the elder Curry out with a leg injury at the start of December. His brother Cam Spencer, a second-year guard with the Memphis Grizzlies, is doing even better, putting together a streak of 10 double-digit scoring games while his team has gone 7-3.

Pat and Cam Spencer are surprising success stories

Pat Spencer transferred to Northwestern and switched to basketball after four record-setting seasons playing lacrosse — he's the all-time college leader in assists. After going undrafted, he worked his way up through the G League and ended up signing two-way contracts with the Warriors each of the last three seasons. This season, he's played more minutes and scored more points than in his two previous seasons combined, leading the Warriors to two road wins without their superstar.

Cam Spencer also transferred schools after four years, though he played basketball the whole time. He landed at UConn and averaged 14.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals for their title-winning team. After an injury-marred rookie season on a two-way deal with the Grizzlies, he signed a four-year deal this summer and has delivered incredible value, averaging 12 points and four assists while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 50.3 percent on three-pointers.

Monday, the younger Spencer had the best game of his career, sinking seven threes and scoring 27 points off the bench in a 121-103 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Both Cam and Pat Spencer play with a lot of confidence

The Spencer brothers don't look like typical NBA players. Pat is 6-foot-2 and Cam is 6-foot-3, while neither has obvious athletic gifts, speed or explosiveness. But they're both extremely competitive, surprisingly strong and have excellent court vision — along with zero fear.

Both brothers aren't afraid to let their opponents know when they make big plays. Pat Spencer screamed unprintable obscenities after a big basket in Philadelphia while pounding his chest.

Monday night, during a fourth-quarter stretch where Cam Spencer made four threes in less than three minutes, he pointed at the Clippers bench and screamed, "You gotta get him off me," regarding L.A. guard Jordan Miller's hapless attempts to guard him.

While the elder Spencer may find his playing time limited with the elder Curry brother back — he's more of a Curry replacement than a guy who can play alongside Chef Curry — he seems to have passed Seth Curry on the Dubs depth chart. Cam Spencer is making himself indispensable to the Grizzlies, and he should continue to play big minutes, especially with Ja Morant banged-up and John Konchar and Ty Jerome still injured.

Neither Spencer brother can match Curry, and Amen and Ausar Thompson have top be considered the best brother act in the NBA (apologies to Jrue and Aaron Holiday, Franz and Moe Wagner, Julian and Justin Champagnie and Tyus and Tre Jones). But this season is showing the world what UConn basketball and college lacrosse fans already knew: The Spencer brothers can play.  

Sean Keane

Sean Keane is a sportswriter and a comedian based in Oakland, California, with experience covering the NBA, MLB, NFL and Ice Cube’s three-on-three basketball league, The Big 3. He’s written for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” ESPN the Magazine, and Audible. com

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