“Some people said it couldn’t happen, and couldn’t be done” is how Large Professor starts the title track from what was to become his shelved 1996 debut solo album The LP. Five years earlier, he was the teenaged talent who was the face of Main Source as the group’s sole rapper and primary producer. The impact of their 1991 album Breaking Atoms is monumental if not solely for its production style which influenced much of the early-to-mid 1990s East Coast hip hop sound. Large Professor left the group in 1992 to spend the next few years making guest appearances and receiving production credits. The LP was supposed to be his triumphant return as the wonder kid grown up and doing it on his own. The title track is the summary of his circumstances; he raps about his persistence, his absence and the support that kept him going.

Another LP has made his own comeback. Lamar Patterson has signed with the Brisbane Bullets as a nominated replacement player for NBL26. It is his third stint with the team where it feels like a lifetime ago he was a two-time All-NBL First Team selection in 2019 and 2020. Three seasons before that, Patterson was in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks after being a second round draft selection in 2014. One has to experience the feeling of absence after a Breaking Atoms to have the perseverance to make the return of a The LP.

Patterson was a late addition to the Bullets when he first joined the team in 2018. He was brought in to replace fellow former NBA player Alonzo Gee who departed after four games. Patterson was in the fourth year of his professional career; he started his career in 2014 in Turkiyë, spent 2015 to 2017 split between the Hawks and the NBA Development League, and then split the 2017–18 season across Puerto Rico, Italy and China. Patterson’s arrival on the Bullets became an international news story; not because of who he was but because he was caught smuggling his dog in his hand luggage when his flight landed (the dog was ultimately deported). Patterson ended up making headlines for himself as the Bullets’ leading scorer and rebounder with 18.7 points and 6.0 rebounds which earned him All-NBL First Team honours. The Bullets qualified for the Finals for the first time since the team was revived in 2016 and lost to the Perth Wildcats 0–2 in the semis. It remains the last time that the Bullets appeared in the postseason.

Patterson returned to the Bullets for the 2019–20 season. He again led the team in scoring with an increased 21.4 points per game but also became the primary ballhandler and averaged a team-high 4.6 assists per game. Patterson again was named to the All-NBL First Team. The Bullets finished the season 15–13 to land in fifth place; they missed the Finals based on points percentage. Patterson left the Bullets to join the New Zealand Breakers for the 2020–21 season which was disastrous. He appeared in only six games with almost a halved scoring average of 10.8 points and then was ruled out with a knee injury. He was released the following month before he recovered as the Breakers limped to a 4–9 record.

There was to fortunately be the first triumphant return of Patterson to the Bullets immediately brought to fruition. The day after his Breakers release, Patterson signed with the Bullets for the rest of the season. He was no longer the focal point of the team — replaced by Nathan Sobey and one-season import Vic Law — but increased his scoring average to 14.2 points per game as the Bullets missed the Finals with an 18–18 record. In the offseason, Patterson made a decision that would ultimately alter his life: instead of going overseas to play like he had done with China in 2019 and Puerto Rico in 2020, he stayed in Australia to play in the NBL1 North. Patterson re-signed with the Bullets for the 2021–22 season where he lifted his scoring to 16.1 points per game while the team finished with a 10–18 record.

Patterson likely did not realise he played in what could have been his last NBL game when he scored 23 points and grabbed 9 rebounds against Melbourne United to finish the 2021–22 season. He again returned to the NBL1 North in the offseason but there was to be no NBL team waiting to sign him on the other side. Patterson spent 2022 to 2025 playing in the NBL1 North for three teams. Other than a stint in the Indian National Basketball League in 2025, Patterson played solely in Australia. There must have been something that kept him in Australia even though the highest levels that he had once grown accustomed to no longer felt like they were waiting for him. Patterson pushed himself as hard as his 33-year-old self could this season while playing for the Ipswich Force; he led the league in scoring and was selected as most valuable player. His reward: a return to the team where he once excelled.

Times have changed though. Patterson is not on the main roster. His nominated replacement player status as an import means that he can only be activated to replace another import on the roster: 2022 NBL MVP Jaylen Adams, former NBA player Javon Freeman-Liberty and Casey Prather who has undergone his own redemption arc to overcome injuries. It was a kind gesture of the Bullets to give Patterson another opportunity after all those years playing in the state league where he had no motivation other than his desire to make it back. If Prather was able to regain his All-NBL form, maybe the same environment will help Patterson improve too. His naturalisation must surely be impending as he has now been in Australia for almost seven years.

While some thrive in adversity, it is natural for there to be those that instead excel in familiarity. Whether that is in the studio or in a team’s jersey, the feeling of being reconnected with where one once bloomed is beyond reinvigorating. As Large Professor said, “Even though I had to take a long time / It was worth it.” Let’s see if Patterson too can get it perfect.