The Fenerbahce guard has won his first continental crown
Wade Baldwin basks in EuroLeague glory
Haberler
3 Dk okuma
It took Wade Baldwin five clubs and six EuroLeague seasons just to get to the Final Four. And he did everything he could to make sure he cashed in this season with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
Baldwin made it clear that he joined Fenerbahce with the goal of winning it all. And after he accomplished that goal on Sunday night at the 2025 Final Four at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, he was – however briefly – prepared to bask in the glory.
"We're all legends in the, in the Euroleague Basketball books," Baldwin said in the locker room amid the post-game celebrations. "We're 2025 champions, this Fenerbahce team. It's our second star. All of us gave tremendous effort. It's just a great feeling to be in the history books for this league."
"We're all legends"
A true student of the game, Baldwin came painstakingly close to Final Fours on several occasions, losing a fifth and deciding game in the playoffs with FC Bayern Munich in 2021 and with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in both 2023 and 2024. Because of those losses, Baldwin appreciates what it means to be a winner. Perhaps even more so this season after he missed time with injuries.
"It's relentless," Baldwin said of the road to the crown. "You want to play your best basketball towards the end of season to raise titles. I wanna put my best foot forward in any minutes that I play and just play my game. All of us established roles on how we could be effective for this team, and everybody did a hell of a job doing it."
Baldwin said that defeating Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in the semifinals and AS Monaco in the Championship Game required "mental toughness, extra effort, and following the game plan."
Game Videos
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Top 5 Plays | Championship Game | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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AS Monaco-Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Championship Game Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:21
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Hall throws it down! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:09
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Calathes creates for Diallo! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Hall’s crazy putback! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:11
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Hayes-Davis denies Theis! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:19
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Diallo beats the buzzer again! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:16
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Diallo beats the buzzer! Motorola Magic Moment
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Championship Game Talk with Wade Baldwin
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Championship Game Talk with Jaron Blossomgame
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Mic'd Up: Alpha Diallo and Thomas Walkup | 2025 EuroLeague Semifinals
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Mic'd Up: Nigel Hayes-Davis | 2025 EuroLeague Semifinals
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Olympiacos Piraeus-AS Monaco | Semifinal Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:39
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Showtime by Monaco! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:24
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James with a sublime dish! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:18
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Diallo skies for the slam! Motorola Magic Moment
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Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | Semifinal Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:31
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Hall on the highlight reel! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:11
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Baldwin feeds Melli for the slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Baldwin drives to dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
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At the Final Four: Devon Hall, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul
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At the Final Four: Matthew Strazel, AS Monaco
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Tarik Biberovic joined by two surprise guests on pre-Final Four EuroLeague & Friends podcast
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Mike James appears on the EuroLeague & Friends podcast... with a surprise guest!
- 00:16
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Diallo posterizes Parker! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:44
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Mike James: 'We like to make it tough'
- 01:00
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Georgios Papagiannis: 'I was staying ready'
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AS Monaco-FC Barcelona | Playoffs Game 5 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:10
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James & Papagannis connection! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:12
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Papagiannis dunks off a James dish! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:13
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Blossomgame flies for the put-back slam! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Diallo turns defense to offense! Motorola Magic Moment
![https://media-cdn.cortextech.io/a808e080-40c9-4d61-85df-3a62ecb274f5.jpg]()
FC Barcelona-AS Monaco | Playoffs Game 4 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:20
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Diallo's big dunk! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 00:13
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James finds Theis! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:10
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Blossomgame's two-handed dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
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FC Barcelona-AS Monaco | Playoffs Game 3 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:15
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Diallo's big block! Motorola Magic Moment
- 01:10
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Nigel Hayes-Davis: 'We look forward to Abu Dhabi'
- 01:53
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Tarik Biberovic: 'I worked all my life for these moments'
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Paris Basketball-Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul | Playoffs Game 3 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:10
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Pierre and Birch combine to perfection! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:14
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Fener’s perfect team play! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:56
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Alpha Diallo: 'It's really hard to beat us'
- 00:27
![https://dve-images.imggaming.com/original/p/2025/04/25/sj48gClWyAbmzcz6b4EWrdbLAyfZX8YF-1745613987862.jpg]()
Monaco Showtime! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
- 01:15
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Mam Jaiteh: 'If we play like this defensively, we will do good'
![https://media-cdn.cortextech.io/c434196f-2c3b-4a3c-9e75-9bb1358ab5db.jpg]()
AS Monaco-FC Barcelona | PO Game 2 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
- 00:12
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Tarpey’s big driving dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:28
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Jaiteh’s poster dunk! Motorola Magic Moment
- 00:17
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From defense to slam-dunk offense! Motorola Magic Moment
He summed it up as "just Fenerbahce basketball. And we've been trying to practice all year to perform like this in two of the biggest games of our season."
Baldwin will celebrate heartily now – maybe even for a few days – as all EuroLeague champions do. But perhaps unlike most, he already has his eyes on the next prize.
"Now we're at the top of the food chain. So, we gotta enjoy this moment. The business of basketball will be the business of basketball, but we're gonna try to do it again next year."