BIO: Lamar Patterson was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (USA) and starred at J.P. McCaskey High School, then Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey. He later chose to play college basketball for the Pitt Panthers.

Came in late as a import replacement last season but still was named to the All-NBL First Team, and Bullets club MVP.

Played 44 NBA games for Atlanta after being selected at pick 48 by Milwaukee in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Attended Pittsburgh University (2009-2014).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Lamar Patterson made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 27 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

During the off-season, Brisbane said goodbye to Adam Gibson (to South East Melbourne), Shaun Bruce (to Sydney), and Anthony Petrie (retired) and went on a recruiting drive that brought in Boomers sharpshooter Cameron Gliddon (via Cairns), Jason Cadee (via Sydney), Matt Hodgson (via Adelaide), Tom Jervis (via Perth), and Mika Vukona (via New Zealand). The Bullets also welcomed back Rio Olympian and former Chicago Bull Cam Bairstow, who was returning after a knee reconstruction, added Makoto Hiejima under the NBL’s Asian Player rule, making him the first Japanese player to sign with an NBL team, and added NBA veteran Alonzo Gee (via Puerto Rico) as an import.

Lamar Patterson joined Brisbane midseason from China in October 2018, bringing an immediate offensive boost to the squad. The former Atlanta Hawks swingman had averaged impressive numbers in China, including a 71-point game, and was sought after to help bolster Brisbane’s scoring options. Patterson’s arrival was not without a humorous twist, as he made headlines when his French bulldog, Kobe, was found in his carry-on luggage at Brisbane Airport, leading to Kobe being sent back to the U.S.

These key signings were meant to bolster Brisbane’s roster as they prepared for a tough start to the season, with 12 of their first 15 games coming against last season’s top-four playoff teams. Brisbane started the season with a solid 5-4 record, but several roster changes quickly shifted the team’s dynamics after that. In early December, import Stephen Holt (7.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) was granted a mutual release to pursue an opportunity in Europe. The Bullets also cut ties with Alonzo Gee after four matches when the veteran of 417 NBA games requested to go home to the US for personal reasons.

To fill the gap left by Holt, Brisbane signed Jeremy Kendle (6.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), who had been training with the team throughout the season. Kendle’s contract was also extended for the rest of the season. Nnanna Egwu (0 points, 2.3 rebounds) was brought in for three games as an injury replacement. Shortly after, the rarely used Makoto Hiejima (two games) was replaced by import AJ Davis (4.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists), son of NBA legend Antonio Davis, to further improve the roster.

By January, Brisbane’s season had dropped to the middle of the ladder, a 29-point loss to Cairns had them sitting on a 9-9 record, but with Lamar Patterson (17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals) emerging as the Bullets’ leading scorer, the team managed to finish the regular season tied with Adelaide for fourth place. With both teams recording a 14-14 record, Brisbane progressed to the playoffs due to having a higher overall points percentage.

Patterson’s best games of the season included a dominant 33 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal against Melbourne United (8 Dec 2018), 27 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in a victory over Sydney Kings (3 Feb 2019), and 27 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists against Cairns Taipans (3 Jan 2019). He also earned selection to the All-NBL First Team and collected Brisbane’s club MVP award.

In the semifinals, Brisbane faced off against Perth, where Terrico White (24 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist) and Bryce Cotton (19 points, 2 rebounds, and 10 assists) outclassed the Bullets in Game 1 (89–59). Cam Gliddon (18 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists) finished as Brisbane’s top scorer, and Lamar Patterson added 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.

In Game 2 (84–79), Terrico White (24 points and 3 rebounds) once again led Perth in scoring, while Bryce Cotton (19 points, 10 assists, and 3 rebounds) recorded his first career double-double. Despite strong efforts from Lamar Patterson (19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals) and Matthew Hodgson (15 points and 2 blocks), Brisbane couldn’t stop Perth from advancing to the Grand Final to face Melbourne. Patterson also added 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in Brisbane’s final game of the season.

2019/20
On July 31, 2019, Patterson re-signed with the Brisbane Bullets for the 2019/20 NBL season. He arrived in poor shape but quickly regained form and by season’s end was named to the All-NBL First Team again after averaging 21.4 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. Brisbane would finish just outside the top four, falling short of the playoffs and finished in fifth place (15-13).

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2020/21
Patterson was hotly pursued as a free agent in 2020 and signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2020/21 NBL season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season start date was delayed until January 2021. As a result of the pandemic, the Breakers were forced to commit to being based in Australia for the majority of the season. They hosted a number of games as the ‘home’ team in Tasmania and only returned to play their last seven games in New Zealand in late May.

New Zealand also added Tai Webster, returning returned to the team after having left in 2013 to play college ball for Nebraska, and import Colton Iverson. The Breakers campaign suffered another blow when its leading scorer Corey Webster sliced a nerve in his hand while cutting an avocado with a knife in his kitchen and would miss the first month of the season.

As would be expected from a team playing their first 29 games on the road, wins were few and far between. After narrowly losing to Adelaide in overtime in their first game, they would win only one game (a six-point win over Cairns) in the first eight contests. Patterson struggled during this period, appearing out of prime playing condition and unable to overcome a injured knee suffered in a game against Illawarra (Feb 22, 2020). Patterson averaged 10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in six games—down from a career 18.7 points per game—and shot just 37 percent from the floor before being released. A week later he returned to Brisbane as a replacement for import guard Orlando Johnson.

‘The circumstances with Lamar have been difficult from day one,’ said Head Coach Dan Shamir at the time of Pattersons release

‘Lamar got to us 12 days before game one, and unfortunately, he was not in top shape to play, and it was a difficult situation. It influenced how he played, and it influenced the whole team. He was getting in shape and getting better, then he got hurt.’

BRISBANE BULLETS
2020/21
When Patterson re-joined the Bullets (10-8), they had been floating in and out of the top four. Brisbane had put together a high-scoring side onto the floor, with Vic Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks) and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists) both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Mid-way through the season Law would suffer a season ending injury and lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Brisbane’s worst performance came against South East Melbourne (95-66) in round 19. With Sobey injured, Brisbane struggled to score at all, only putting up 66 for their season low. Anthony Drmic (20 points) and Patterson (11 points) were the only players putting up more than six points.

rson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) would overcame the knee injury and help Brisbane finish in sixth-place (18-18), failing to reach the playoffs.

2021/22
Coming off the back of finishing sixth last season, it was announced that Andrej Lemanis was leaving the side after five years as head coach. After considering assistant coach and former Bullets player CJ Bruton for the role, they instead brought in former Sydney Kings assistant James Duncan as the team’s new head coach.

The Bullets were also forced to re-tool their roster, making several changes to key personnel. While Patterson returned, the Bullets lost Vic Law to Perth, and with BJ Johnson signing a NBA deal with Orlando, they were unable to retain him either. Local bigs Matt Hodgson (to Perth), Harry Froling (to Illawarra) and development player Callum Dalton (to Melbourne) all headed elsewhere, looking for better opportunities.

Brisbane re-signed Tyrell Harrison (two-year deal) and Jason Cadee (two-year deal) and filled the remaining gaps with international flavour, signing Chuanxing Liu (China), Jack Salt (New Zealand), Deng Deng (South Sudan), Next Star Tom Digbeu (France) and import Robert Franks (USA).

In the opening game of the season, the Bullets fell short against the JackJumpers in Tasmania (74-83). While the overtime loss didn’t end the team’s season, it set the tone for the Bullets, who saw single-digit losses pile up against the league’s top team’s all season.

As the competition hit the halfway mark, Brisbane’s record was 5-9, and with injuries to Harrison (elbow) and star guard Nathan Sobey (knee), Brisbane struggled to find any rhythm during the second half of the season with the duo missing 11 and 16 games respectively.

Robert Franks (18.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) was the Bullets high scorer in 13 games, and leading vote getter for the Leroy Loggins MVP Award (Club MVP). While leading the team in scoring, he shot 50% from the field and 76% from the free-throw line and finished fifth in the league for points per game.

Patterson (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals), Sobey (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), and Jason Cadee (10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists) were the only other players scoring in double figures.

This season new head coach James Duncan wanted the Bullets to be better defensively, at the start of the season the 44-year-old would have been impressed with how his team was playing defensively. However, Brisbane wasn’t able to maintain it, and its defence fluctuated throughout the year, it finished the year as the worst defensive team, conceding 89.3 points per game and finishing first for turnovers, averaging 14.6 per game.

Although the Bullets did show small glimpses of potential under the reigns of new coach Duncan, Brisbane would miss the finals for the third straight year, finishing in eighth place (10-18).

Lamar Patterson played five seasons in the NBL. He averaged 16.4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 125 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (811 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.