Dan Hurley shows love to former Husky Cam Spencer after talking trash to Kevin Durant

Former University of Connecticut Huskies star Cam Spencer has been generally nondescript in the NBA since getting drafted 53rd overall in the second round of last year’s draft.

Still, he has been making his mark in the G-League where he’s averaging 28.7 points per game on 60.8% shooting from the field and 56.3% shooting on threes for the Memphis Hustle.

On occasion though, he has gotten sparse opportunities to be over on the main team with the Grizzlies. Now that they have been decimated by injuries, Spencer has cracked the rotation and showcased what he could do.

In one of those games — March 11 against the Phoenix Suns — he felt like himself, scoring 16 points on 5/9 shooting and 4/7 from beyond the arc. He also provided the moment of the game—talking smack to Kevin Durant.

The Grizzlies ended up winning the game 120-118, and Spencer’s former coach back in Mansfield, Dan Hurley, was impressed with his show of bravado.

"I did. I've seen that guy before. I've seen that act ... Guys like him makes sports fun for fans and people that love to see people give their best to desperately try and win every game, it’s awesome. We need more people like that in sports."

At the start of the season, Spencer was barely on the rotation, taking mostly garbage time minutes and an occasional injury relief when a player went down.

Cam Spencer has got his opportunity with the Grizzlies severely dented by injuries

Lately though, with the Grizzlies ravaged by a laundry list of injuries, particularly on their backcourt, Spencer has stepped up. Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, Vince Williams Jr. and Scottie Pippen Jr. have all had their time on the shelf due to an injury. Their race for the Southwest Division with the Houston Rockets just got tighter with both teams tied at 43-25.

The Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, see their season from Hell continue to chug along. They are also ravaged with injuries and it’s hurting them more because their team is not as deep as the Grizzlies.

Kevin Durant’s brilliant play has somehow kept this sinking ship floating along that much longer, putting up 26.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists on the season.

The Suns currently sit in the 11th spot in the West at 31-36, where they trail their fellow downtrodden team, the Dallas Mavericks, by only a game-and-a-half for that final play-in slot. With the way the standings are shaking out, it will be interesting to see how all this positioning plays out in the last month of the NBA regular season.