By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
Last year was a tough year for Wade Baldwin. In a span of three days, back in February of 2019, while playing in Portland, he was traded three times, ending up in Indiana where he eventually got waived by the Pacers. Baldwin finished the 2018-2019 season in the G-League, playing for the Raptors 905. In the summer, the young but promising guard decided to sign a deal with Olympiacos, moving overseas in Europe for the first time in his career.
Things, however, didn’t go according to plan. In his brief stint with Olympiacos, Baldwin had three different coaches and wasn’t getting the opportunities he wanted to. In the middle of the season, since he wasn’t fitting very well in coach Kemzoura’s plans, Olympiacos asked him to find a new team. Baldwin, however, didn’t want to leave Greece. “No, I liked Olympiacos, especially when coach Bartzokas came,” Baldwin told Eurohoops. “I knew he was going to bring Olympiacos in the proper direction where they belong, where they historically have been. And so far, they’re doing a tremendous job this season. Unfortunately, Kostas Sloukas came back, and that’s a player in my position. He’s had a tremendous career with Fenerbahce and Olympiacos before, and I understand the decision that was made. Now, I transferred over to Bayern Munich and I like to be the No. 1 team in the EuroLeague.”
The situation for Baldwin wasn’t ideal in Piraeus, Greece. The team was struggling, making a lot of changes, bringing in new head coaches. The 2018-2019 season for Olympiacos started with David Platt, and ended with Georgios Bartzokas. For a couple of months, after Blatt’s departure, Kestutis Kemzura was also named the team’s head coach. It was an unprecedented situation for Baldwin himself, who was in his first year overseas. “I think coach Blatt believed in me from the start. Unfortunately, he’s going through an illness which is preventing him to do his job at the best of his ability. I can’t say Kemzura was the same,” says Baldwin. “I think he did the best he could. He was a very nice guy, but things were very shaky at that time. I would like to say that Bartzokas also believed in me as well. But when you have Kostas Sloukas, who’s coming off tremendous EuroLeague seasons, and you got a guy like me, who didn’t have that great of a season last year, I think the cozy pick is obviously picking Sloukas over me.”
After that season, Baldwin moved to Germany to play for another EuroLeague team in Bayern Munich. As of now, he is arguably playing the best basketball of his career, leading his team to a 7-3 record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague competition. As he says regarding Olympiacos and the team’s decision last summer, if he keeps performing at a high level, next summer could look different: “I’m going to keep things real and honest. For the next 24 games, if I perform the way I’m performing, and this team continues to win, the way I see it happening, maybe it’ll be different next summer.”
Besides getting a lot more playing time this year, and starting games, the main difference is the role he has on the team, which is one of a playmaker, facilitator, and team leader: “The ball is in my hands. I’m given a lot of trust within the coaching staff and my teammates. This summer was a wake-up call for me. I didn’t have that great year of a year with Olympiacos, due to many different circumstances that mostly were on me. 99% is on me, 1% I put the blame on somebody else. But, I had a lot of time to work on my game. We got done in March, and we didn’t have games until August. Some guys back home in America weren’t able to get into a gym, I was. And I was there every single day, figuring out what I need to do to be effective here in the EuroLeague. After these ten games in the EuroLeague, plus our German League games, I’ve shown it.”
Despite that 7-3 record and the pressure that’s starting to build from other contending teams, Bayern keeps the same mentality for each game. “I think every game is pressure,” says Baldwin. “Every EuroLeague game is taken very seriously. This is something I learned last year with Olympiacos. Every game is like a Super Bowl or a championship game. Our approach for each game has to be the same. There’s 24 games left to go, so there’s 24 more Super Bowls.”
Baldwin’s contract with Bayern expires next summer and he will be a free agent available on the market. An NBA return could turn out to be a real possibility, but right now, Baldwin is focused on the task at hand. “There’s 24 more games to go, which will dictate a lot,” says Baldwin. “Obviously the market over there is as tough as it gets. You’re going to see a lot of guys will get weave out, not carrying a 15th guy on the roster, they’ll only have 14. This is a business. If the opportunity is there and it’s a good look for me, I would love to join, but I love gaining more and more respect over here in Europe. So far, I’ve played in 10 EuroLeague games this season and I’m gaining more respect. My name is getting out there. The team is doing well and this is what’s most important to me, when it comes to my profession. The respect of my peers, and the failures, successes I have in my career.”