Bucks guard Pat Connaughton is building careers on and off the court in Milwaukee
Pat Connaughton laughed at the idea of hauling sheetrock around at one of his many development projects in Wisconsin, or wielding heavy tools to physically put a building together. Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin or general manager Jon Horst might not like that very much, he said.
But Connaughton did those things once, with his father requiring him to move materials around construction sites as a kid. The intersection of that past with the present of his basketball career is why Connaughton is sitting in a meeting room at Three Leaf Partners across from Fiserv Forum.
The 30-year-old Bucks guard probably shouldn’t be building things by hand anymore, but that passion for it is why the Pat Connaughton Foundation refurbishes basketball courts and gymnasiums. It’s why Three Leaf Partners, a real estate development company that was supposed to be an ancillary source of income – and a safety net should a basketball career not work out – mushroomed into one overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of projects.
“It was kind of all authentic and organic growth," Connaughton said. "What I mean by that is I think Milwaukee is one of the most underrated sports towns in the United States, but you also find around here is there an unbelievable amount of development around the City of Milwaukee or around the state of Wisconsin. And people have done amazing things in business. They’re just nice, regular people that you wouldn’t know it. As I got to know those people and really learn from them and how they’ve done it, you felt that community feel that Milwaukee has.
“Milwaukee is, what I learned very quickly, renowned for being hesitant of outsiders but really having each other’s backs to the core. And when you finally become part of that community they’ll do whatever they can to help you succeed as long as you kind of have the same values they do.”
Thinking of a future off the court
Len and Susan Connaughton sat with their son at the end of a row of courtside seats after his pregame shooting routine before the Bucks’ home opener Oct. 26. It was the start of his ninth season in the NBA and on one hand a completely normal scene: parents smiling, talking with their son before he goes off to work.
Yet how abnormal it actually is has never been far from Pat’s mind.
Len Connaughton leaned back on a railing at Fiserv Forum and matter-of-factly recalled a different kind of post-work conversation with his own father, Bernard.
"He would come home at 5:30 and he’d cut lawns," Len remembered. "He had eight kids, so he would grab whoever was there, whatever kid was in the driveway had to come and help. I was the youngest boy so I was always stuck.
"That was the thing. I grew up with the mindset that your kid has to work. It’s how you get through life, you have to be able to work.”
So it was only natural that Len's son would do the same, although it wasn't cutting lawns. Len was a general contractor, building custom homes and condominiums in and around Boston.
“He was a promising athlete, no question," Len said about Pat. "But I said you’re going to work for the summer, you know what I mean? Go to work. And he was miserable.”
Len chuckled. Yes, Pat carried that drywall up and down stairs. He filled dumpsters. Though Pat doesn’t quite go so far as to say he hated it, they agree a deal was struck while he was at St. John’s Prep: If Pat worked at sports like he would on the job site, he could avoid having to do that kind of manual labor.
“But the minute you don’t, you’re coming back,” Len said flatly – almost as if the deal was still in place as the sounds of DJ Shawna pumped through Fiserv Forum.
Pat more than held up his end of the bargain.
First, the San Diego Padres selected him out of high school in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball draft in 2011, but he did not sign. After Connaughton attended and played at the University of Notre Dame, the Baltimore Orioles picked him in the fourth round in 2014, netting him a signing bonus of more than $400,000.
He stayed in school for this senior year to play basketball and was a second-round pick of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets in 2015. He was immediately traded to the Portland Trail Blazers – and he elected to stay with basketball.
Yes, Connaughton was part of the 1.2% of college basketball players to play in the NBA. Yes, he gradually increased his playing time off the bench over three seasons. But he knew his place was tenuous.
He had begun flipping houses after getting his signing bonus from Baltimore, but really dived in once he got to Portland and eventually graduated to three-, five- and eight-unit buildings with his company, Beach House LLC.
“I was probably a better baseball prospect than I was basketball,” Connaughton said. “And the fact that when I got to the NBA as a second-round draft pick and I had two years league minimum guaranteed at most, I wanted to get involved as early as I could.
“I started to see, hey, I don’t know what my future in sports is gonna be – I’ll work my ass off to try and make sure I have a 10-, 15-year NBA career – but I also wanted to try to see if I could build something on the side.”
This is what stuck with his father.
“What I probably was the most proud of there was the realization he made that, look, I got to this pro sports thing, but it’s going to end, I’ve got a long life to live and I’ve got to make sure,” Len said. “I admired the drive and ambition.”
Len recalled how Pat would sit in the backseat as he and Susan drove around looking at real estate in the Boston area.
“I didn’t even think he was paying attention,” Len said. “But I guess he was.”
But in the summer of 2018, Connaughton was not extended a qualifying offer by the Trail Blazers. Suddenly an unrestricted free agent, he had earned a shade under $3 million in total.
The Bucks came through with a two-year deal, but only the first year was guaranteed. He moved to Milwaukee, and his professional lives on and off the court changed unimaginably.
Making Milwaukee and Wisconsin home
Connaughton’s first year with the Bucks coincided with the franchise’s ascendance to the top of the NBA. He became a valuable contributor for new head coach Mike Budenholzer’s 60-win team that romped to the Eastern Conference finals. From there, Connaughton’s importance within the team only grew – the pinnacle being the 2021 NBA championship.
His roots deepened off the court also.
In 2020 his company, Beach House, was rebranded as Three Leaf Developments, the leaves of which represent professional athletes, businessmen and women, and real estate. His network with Milwaukee and Wisconsin power brokers grew, as did the Three Leaf portfolio.
But it was through his charity work with his foundation that he found himself aligning with Catalyst Construction founder Matt Burow. The two shared similar values and, eventually, similar business visions. By working with his father, Connaughton had learned that being able to control construction costs was important, whereas Burow was looking to have more ownership in the projects his company was building.
In 2022, Three Leaf Partners was formed when the development company merged with Catalyst.
“The other part that really drew me to him was it’s about everybody else first,” Burow said. “That’s uncommon, I think, in business let alone in an athlete. For him it was all about let’s make sure it’s about investors first, do what’s right, everything else follows. That was my mantra and how I ran my business for 20 years. It shouldn’t be unique, but I think it is unique. Unfortunately it’s unique.
"I would say we’re like-minded in how we treat other people and put others first. We want to make the community better. It’s not about an immediate return but doing right by others. Reputation is all we have. You can do one wrong thing and you’re done.
“So, there was alignment on core values, there was alignment on mission, there was alignment on work ethic, there was alignment in how we saw growing a business together.”
Part of the appeal for Burow – and the communities Connaughton is investing in – is that Connaughton has made it a point to be present, too. And not just in reviewing plans and contracts, but by attending public meetings to address community concerns over development proposals. He may not be carrying sheetrock, but he’s been on site to meet with Milwaukee’s historic preservation commission and Hartland’s board and planning commission.
“People have their preconceptions of who I am or what I do – or any NBA player, depending what they feel,” Connaughton acknowledged. “The people that are a part of Three Leaf, the people that are investors or joint venture partners in the communities we develop in, very quickly start to realize I’m not just a name behind the company.
"I’m somebody who is as invested in this as anybody, who puts time and energy and effort into it on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and has knowledge on every project that we’re doing and has passion to make every project work to the best of my abilities.”
Connaughton takes the same approach with his charitable arm, the Pat Connaughton Foundation.
That began early in his career, too, and it included the standard basketball camps and clinics. They were rewarding, but felt temporary.
“How do we have more of a sustained impact? How do we really impact these next generation of student athletes' lives on an even other level?” Connaughton wondered.
That sparked an idea from foundation treasurer Joe Kirpas to refurbish courts.
“The court is a symbol,” Connaughton said. “The court utilized for other sports and activities or volunteer clubs or education, things that will take a holistic approach to these kids’ lives and help keep them out of trouble and things of that nature.”
District 2 Ald. Mark Chambers Jr., who attended a Connaughton Court opening at the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center in June, agreed.
Chambers said at the unveiling that, “It means everything. It gives kids opportunity to stay out of trouble, to learn important values and teamwork, community, just strength building; give them another outlet to remove, release any stress. Stay away from the garbage that’s out there in the community or neighborhoods or anything like that.
“It fills me up because I once was a kid being in this area, being on this very court that we’re standing on right now. It means everything.”
Connaughton looks for continued growth
Connaughton first acknowledges he had more time this past summer than he wanted to, with the Bucks’ upset in the first round of the playoffs. But it allowed for extra time to oversee a foundational and business growth that still has him in a bit of shock.
His foundation is accepting applications for not only more indoor courts to refurbish but has an eye on outdoor ones also. He said there are plans for scholarships to be awarded to needy campers in the coming years.
He’s also gone global.
With dual citizenship in Ireland, Connaughton and his foundation hosted clinics in Limerick, Ireland, for the first time. The plan is to bring Connaughton Courts to the country to help grow the game.
“Incredible…the most incredible thing,” Len said about the plans for Ireland. “Look, your name can be in the paper for a number of reasons, but that’s a really good one, to be philanthropic. And he’s determined to give back, in his own way, and on his own time. He’s not swayed by anybody and it’s something he wanted to do. You gotta appreciate it, really.”
As for Three Leaf Partners, Connaughton said it has 20 employees and will finish 2023 with six projects valued at $195 million. In the last four years, he said the company has had $300 million to $400 million in development.
“It scaled a lot faster than I thought we were capable of doing knowing that I have the basketball thing that is my priority,” he said. “That, I think, for me I wanted to build it to a place where when basketball was over it had that hockey stick growth. It was slowly growing but when basketball was over, I could put my time and effort into it, it kind of took off.
"Bringing Matt on board and the success we’ve had on the basketball court and I’d say the notoriety and platform we’ve grown around the city, that’s what really allowed us to start that hockey stick curve in three years, five years as opposed to 10, 11 years.”
He added his initial goals for the company at this point have been exceeded, so they’ve changed. He hopes the company can be multi-regional – but the focus for now will remain in the Midwest.
Like the $67 million, 247-unit apartment complex proposed for West Allis.
“It was really exciting that we got that proposal from his group,” West Allis Mayor Dan Devine said. “He’s got a really good team of developers working with him and it’s always a very positive experience working with those people. I think he has a good vision. They always come with a good vision. They’re looking to improve and also kind of complement the neighborhood.”
Devine appreciated that Three Leaf recognized Honey Creek Park and the West Allis Historical Society were across the street, leading to a discussion over changing the exterior features of the project to align with the history of the neighborhood.
“Very open to listening and just making it work on all fronts,” Devine said of the Three Leaf group, as he has yet to meet Connaughton. “This is going to be good for the city too because National Avenue is a corridor that we’ve been trying to focus a lot on as far as more retail and restaurants and things like that. This will bring a lot of new spenders to that stretch that can walk up and down the corridor and support the restaurants and bars and shops.”
Sitting upright in a basketball-orange chair in a meeting room off the lobby in the Three Leaf offices, Connaughton seamlessly weaves together his interests in conversation, from former teammate Damian Lillard’s arrival on the Bucks to why a Shorewood housing project didn’t turn out as initially planned. A hint of competitiveness is evident in a small smile when someone brings up the arm strength of Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan, who flicked a football some 50 yards in an offseason viral video.
Connaughton is in the first year of a three-year contract extension that will carry him into a second decade of professional basketball. It feels like a lifetime from filling dumpsters outside of Boston, yet it’s a blink in the context of the working life of so many others. He’ll be celebrated as a champion athlete in Milwaukee, but he’s on his way to building a legacy in state that will far outlast even that.
“It was just a perfect culmination of a little bit of everything that made it possible,” he said. “Then you win a championship, sign an extension and you really start to be ingrained in the roots of what’s going on in the Midwest in general and specifically Wisconsin, that’s what kind of allowed this thing to grow so quickly.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pat Connaughton building careers on and off the court in Milwaukee
