In his sixth season with a fifth different team, he finally got to lift the EuroLeague trophy
Tribute to the Champs: Wade Baldwin
Article
2 Minute de lecture
It was a year of many firsts for Wade Baldwin. Having joined Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul last summer as a two-time All-EuroLeague guard, the 29-year-old had to adjust to a new team where he was not the first option on offense for the first time since his EuroLeague debut season, all while dealing with injuries that forced him to miss 12 of the first 26 rounds of the regular season.
The theme of career firsts continued late in the season, too. However, not in the sense of needed adjustments or problems, but as career highlights for Baldwin.
In Fenerbahce’s playoff sweep of Paris Basketball, Baldwin was one of the team’s key factors with 11.3 points, 4.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds. A ’career-first’ hidden in there was the fact that Baldwin finally got over the hump; after losing three playoff series in Game 5, he was finally part of a team that won its series. Then, at the Final Four, Baldwin was one of Fenerbahce’s key contributors.
In the semifinal win against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Baldwin did just about everything, dishing 5 assists, pulling down 5 rebounds and picking up a pair of steals before scoring 10 second-half points. In the championship game, Baldwin played 27 minutes and 25 seconds, the third most on the team, and collected 13 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds as Fenerbahce defeated AS Monaco, which made him a EuroLeague champion, giving him and his teammates the status of, as he called it, legends.