During the 1940s, Patterson played professional basketball for the Flint Dow A.C.'s of the NBL.[4]
From 1968 to 1972, Patterson served as president, and part-time GM, for the Milwaukee Bucks.[5] Patterson drafted Lew Alcindor with the first overall pick in the 1969 draft and traded for Oscar Robertson in 1970.[6] Led by the pair, the Bucks won their first NBA championship in 1971.[7] Over his career, Patterson was responsible for the drafting, trading, or signing of nine Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame players.[8][9]
Patterson died on August 3, 2011, at age 89.[10][11]
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