Davidsonville native and Boys’ Latin graduate Cam Spencer recently signed a four-year, $10.4 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Spencer was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 53rd pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and traded to the Grizzlies, with whom he signed a two-way contract.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound guard averaged 4.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25 games with the Grizzlies last season. This season, he’s averaging 6.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 5 games.
Spencer was asked what the extension means to him.
“I want to be here for my whole career. They showed the belief in me, and I’m going to prove them right every single day and continue to try to prove people wrong. That’s my thing,” Spencer said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 24. “It’s awesome to be here for three or four years. I’m super excited to go to war with this organization and we’re going to leave it all out there on the floor for them.”
Spencer’s five-year college career took him through Loyola, Rutgers and UConn. He spent two seasons at Loyola with Grizzlies teammate Santi Aldama, who was the 30th overall pick in 2021. Aldama is now in his fifth year with Memphis.
“When we played our last game together at Loyola, I didn’t think we would play another game or share the floor, and it’s just pretty cool that we took our two unique paths and they ended up coming back together,” Spencer said. “Obviously, congrats to him — he just signed a three-year deal, so we’ll have plenty of years on the floor together. He’s just fun to play with. He’s a great friend of mine. We were roommates back at Loyola. So I can’t say enough good things about him, and I’m super happy that I have a few more years with him, at least.”
Last year, Spencer had a chance to go up against his older brother, Pat, in the NBA for the first time when the Grizzlies took on the Golden State Warriors in January. Pat, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound guard for the Warriors, had two points, two assists, one block and one steal, while Cam scored seven points. The Warriors won, 121-113.
“It was a surreal feeling,” Spencer said. “When we first got subbed in together, I went to guard him full court, and there’s a weird feeling of like, obviously I want to beat him and I want to win, but at the same time I’m always rooting for his success. … It was a pretty cool moment, but we’re competitive people. This is the beginning of the journey for us and we think we have a long way to go.”
Spencer’s intensity comes from growing up with brothers Pat and Will, who share the same competitiveness.
“We’re just competitive people by nature, but I’ve had it from such a young age,” Spencer said. “Pat being four years older than me, I was always trying to beat him, but four years is a lot as a kid, so there was a lot of losing and a lot of fights growing up, so I think it’s just in our DNA.”
For more from Spencer, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE/Memphis Grizzlies
