Bullets legacy 'means everything' to Patterson

• Lamar Patterson signed to return to the Brisbane Bullets this season as a Nominated Replacement Player
• He is a two-time NBL All-First Team member with the Bullets
• Patterson won the NBL1 North MVP in the offseason with the Ipswich Force

Lamar Patterson's had done everything he could to reach his dream of earning another NBL chance but it still felt miles away several months ago.

Now, it has come true and he couldn't be happier at the Brisbane Bullets.

Patterson first joined the Bullets early in the 2018-19 NBL season and in two straight seasons was named to the All-First Team but he found himself out of the league following NBL22 and wasn’t sure he'd ever be back.

In between, he had made a life for himself still living in Brisbane with his wife and son, who now is on the squad with him in the NBL1 North at the Ipswich Force, and banged down the door for another opportunity.

That saw him get into the best shape probably since his college days at the University of Pittsburgh, he produced an MVP winning season at Ipswich and was rewarded with a spot back at the Bullets as a Nominated Replacement Player.

Following the departure of Javon Freeman-Liberty, Patterson was back starting and playing a key role for the Bullets, including hitting a game-winner in a miracle comeback against the New Zealand Breakers in what could be his final game in the line-up after Brisbane signed new import, Dakota Mathias.

In his five games as a starter, Patterson scored 18 points against the Illawarra Hawks and then had seven points and six assists in a big win in Perth. He will still remain an NRP for the Bullets for the remainder of the season and can slide back into the playing roster if one of their three imports miss a game.

That's unless another team signs him, which NBL legend urged the Breakers to do after his performance against them.

The 34-year-old hasn’t had any serious injuries that have held him back and now that he's in top shot and good form, he's enjoying the chance to prove any doubters wrong.

"I actually enjoy it if people are underestimating me and I've always been a guy who likes proving people wrong," Patterson told basketball.com.au.

"Even if people bring up the age or stuff like that, yes I'm 34 but I don't feel it at all and there's plenty of guys all over the world older than me playing at a high level.

"I even look at someone like Casey, he's playing at such a high level and we're the same age but the difference with us is that he has had to come back from injuries and had to fight that battle.

"All I had to do was get back in shape, I haven’t had serious injuries and right now I feel better than I ever have in Australia honestly. Now it's just trying to translate that into producing in games and helping us get some wins."

How Bullets opportunity opened up

Patterson played in the championship season at the Gold Coast Rollers back in 2022 before two years still in the NBL1 North at the South West Metro Pirates, but it was his 2025 season at Ipswich that catapulted him back into NBL calculations.

He got himself back in peak condition, his game thrived on the back of that and was MVP with 28.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals on shooting 50 per cent from the field, 40 per cent from downtown and 84 per cent at the foul line.

Patterson was dreaming another NBL opportunity might come his way, but had no indication until the Bullets players started their pre-season training, he joined them and now the rest is history.

"I hadn’t really been talking to any teams or anything and there wasn’t much motion or anything, but it just came about by me getting back around the guys," Patterson said.

"It started with some pick ups with the Bullets and turned into me working out with them pretty much every day when the team was in the facility, and then I just continued doing that to get acquainted with the coaching staff and everyone again.

"It turned into that and the owners came out visiting and could see that I was looking good, and it just came back to getting in front of the guys and being back in the environment.

"Then playing well in the NBL1 obviously helped as well and then it just looked like having my leadership and experience around could help some of the younger guys we have here.

"The coaching staff valued that so when an opportunity presented itself I jumped at it. I didn’t expect to be playing as much this soon, but that's just basketball and I'm prepared and ready for it, and my goal is to make the most of all these opportunities because it's my turn to step into that role to help the team as much as possible."

Making home in Brisbane

While at this point in life as a 34-year-old any professional basketball opportunities are a bonus for Patterson, he feels he has found the perfect situation for him with the Bullets.

It allows him to remain living with his family in Brisbane and he feels he is the perfect player for the role the Bullets have for him considering just how little support he needs given his off-court life is now well set up.

"I couldn’t ask for a better situation actually. I know Illawarra did talk with me about going there and they were offering a similar deal, but I just told them straight up that if it's as an injury replacement I'd rather stay in Brisbane," Patterson said.

"I wanted to be able to keep sleeping in my own bed and get to be home otherwise when the team was on the road and I wasn’t in the squad, I'd just be left there on my own trying to figure out what to do in a new city.

"But my son and wife and dog and everything is in Brisbane so it's ideal for this situation and I think it's ideal for the Bullets too.

"There's not much they need to do for me, I'm low maintenance and don't need a house or car or anything from them. I just show up to work every day ready to go and that's it."

Wanting to leave a Bullets legacy

Already having four seasons with the Bullets and being an All-NBL First Team member on two occasions, Patterson is proud to be continuing at the club where he has been able to walk back in and reclaim his No. 13 locker with his name already on it.

While he might still spend more time on the sidelines than the court across the season when the Bullets bring in Mathias, what he wants more than anything is to be part of team success now at what has become his home town team.

"Legacy is a major thing and anyone that plays any type of sport or anything you do in life really, you want to be remembered for it," Patterson said.

"So building on that means a lot and my whole goal now is trying to be part of a championship here with Brisbane. That's pretty much the only thing I still want to achieve now so being able to get that would be ideal and a major thing.

"That would cement me in the history books as one of the better imports and players to play with the Bullets especially with how tough the league is, and I think it's an open competition. I don’t think there's a team that's way better so I think we can still get there.

"And being able to have that opportunity to get the chance to add on to the legacy that I have here with the Bullets means everything to me."

Still confident in team this season

It had been a tough start to the NBL season for the Bullets and they have played five of their opening six matches away from Brisbane, and their recent win in Perth had lost four in-a-row including by 27 points to the Illawarra Hawks.

Along the way they had lost Sam McDaniel, Mitch Norton and Freeman-Liberty to injury with the departure of the latter opening up the chance for Patterson to have now stepped in to play the last four matches as he brought up his 100-game milestone for the Bullets.

Brisbane put in a brilliant performance to win in Perth by 17 points and Patterson was anything but surprised, and remained fully confident the Bullets could still pull things together this season despite the rough start.

Something they have shown by winning two of their last three games and in their one loss, the Bullets pushed the undefeated Melbourne United to the brink.

"There is no doubt in the talent level here at the club and from my time here at the Bullets, this is the most well balanced roster talent-wise from top to bottom,” Patterson said.

"Obviously not having Norto and SMac hasn’t helped and if you add in a bunch of other different factors, it has been a tough start.

"There have been a lot of curveballs so far and there's some pressure obviously when you have people from the outside criticising stuff, and we all see it, but you have to have the right talent and all that, but you also need a lot of luck.

"That doesn’t get spoken about as much, but teams that win championships are the healthiest team at the right team, and they get that bit of luck.

"If we have to go through our bumps and bruises in the season, this is a good time and then in the back end of the season we can just build and grow, and get that mojo so it can build into something special."

The Bullets return home to play the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday at 5.30pm at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.