Tag: Vin Baker

The downfall and redemption of former Boston Celtics big man Vin Baker

After six years of sobriety, Baker made a remarkable comeback.

In the NBA, rapid ascents and tragic falls are not uncommon. Former Boston Celtics big man Vin Baker, became a four-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA player by age 26. His journey from a relatively unknown high school player to standout at Hartford paved the way for his selection by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1993 NBA draft.

Baker’s scoring, rebounding, post scoring, footwork, and court vision pushed him to stardom. But the pinnacle of his career came crashing down around 1999 when his off-court struggles with alcohol and drugs, a well-kept secret during his playing days, started to unravel. By 2003, while playing for Boston, liver damage due to substance abuse was discovered. Baker’s career in the NBA effectively ended, and he faced personal and financial ruin.

However, after six years of sobriety, Baker made a remarkable comeback. He found redemption by coaching youth programs and eventually becoming an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks.

He played a significant part in the team’s 2021 Championship run, highlighting his ability to rebound not just on the court but in life. Check out the clip embedded above to hear his story from the Andy Hoops YouTube channel.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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On this day: Baker, Shannon born; Reed debuts; Brown passes

On this day, Earl Shannon and Vin Baker were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, big man Vincent Lamont “Vin” Baker was born in Lake Wales, Florida back in 1971. Baker played his college ball at the University of Hartford in nearby Connecticut, where he won America East Player of the Year in 1993 before being selected with the eighth overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft that same year.

The future Celtic would make the 1994 NBA All-Rookie First Team in his inaugural season in the league, and play stints with the Bucks and (then) Seattle Supersonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder) before joining Boston.

That would materialize via Baker being traded to the Celtics with Shammond Williams to Boston for Kenny Anderson, Joseph Forte, and Vitaly Potapenko.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 42

Today’s installment focuses on the 14 players who wore No. 42 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

The Boston Celtics have more retired jerseys than any other team in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean the rest of their jerseys have little history of interest tied to them.

In fact, with 17 titles to their name and decades of competitive basketball played in them, their unretired jersey numbers pack in some of the most history not hanging from the rafters of any team in the league. To that end, we have launched our accounting of that history, with every player in every jersey worn by more than one Celtics player in the storied franchise’s history accounted for.

Today’s installment focuses on the 14 players who wore No. 42 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

HoopsHype’s most overpaid player list includes nine former Boston Celtics

Let’s dive into where alumni of the Boston Celtics appear on this list.

There is a good case to be made that with the advent of the NBA salary cap players are actually underpaid. In the context of that cap, however, quite a few players earned more than the value they brought to their clubs. The Boston Celtics are not excluded from that reality.

The folks over at HoopsHype have put together a metric to try to measure such things. The real value metric was developed by HoopsHype analyst Alberto De Roa. In a recent H/H article, authors Sam Yip and Frank Urbina sorted the top 30 players who have fleeced teams in terms of their real value.

Let’s dive into where former Celtics appear on this list.

On this day: Baker, Shannon born; Reed debuts; Brown passes

On this day, Earl Shannon and Vin Baker were born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, big man Vincent Lamont “Vin” Baker was born in Lake Wales, Florida back in 1971. Baker played his college ball at the University of Hartford in nearby Connecticut, where he won America East Player of the Year in 1993 before being selected with the eighth overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft that same year.

The future Celtic would make the 1994 NBA All-Rookie First Team in his inaugural season in the league, and play stints with the Bucks and (then) Seattle Supersonics (now, Oklahoma City Thunder) before joining Boston.

That would materialize via Baker being traded to the Celtics with Shammond Williams to Boston for Kenny Anderson, Joseph Forte, and Vitaly Potapenko.

Calculating the Hall of Fame odds for Boston Celtics yet to make it in

There are more Boston Celtics in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame than players of any other team – but who else might be joining them from Boston’s ranks?

The Boston Celtics have more players in Springfield, Massachusetts’ Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame than any other franchise in NBA history, and could be poised to add several more in the future, if the odds listed by Basketball-reference.com pan out favorably.

But who are the Celtics alumni with a good chance — or for that matter, any chance at all? We put together the following list of candidates with at least some shot at making the hall according to the essential reference of all things NBA statistics, excluding players who did not complete at least one full season with Boston to put some manageable limits on this exercise.

Let’s take a look at the potential candidates.