Vin Baker was a three-time First Team All-MEAC and 1993 MEAC Player of the Year at Hartford and was the eighth Overall Pick in 1993 with Milwaukee as his landing place. Baker saw a lot of minutes early as a rookie (31.2), and he broke out in his second campaign where he went to his first All-Star Game, averaged a double-double (17.7 Points and 10.3 Rebounds) and led the NBA in Minutes per Game (41.0).
Baker continued to grow his game and the master of low post scoring put up his best numbers over the next two seasons (21.1 PTS/9.9 RB & 21.0 PTS/10.3 RB) where he again was an All-Star, but also added a Third Team All-NBA Selection in 1996-97. Baker proved he was an excellent basketball player, but he had little help on the Bucks and never saw any playoff action in Milwaukee.
The struggling Bucks traded him to Seattle, where he had his most complete season in the sport. An All-Star for the fourth straight year, Baker was also a Second Team All-Star and was eighth in MVP voting. Baker also had career-highs in PER (20.4) and Win Shares (10.4), and this should have vaulted the Power Forward to the next level, but, alas, there were issues behind the scenes that hindered his growth.
Baker was dealing with alcohol issues that progressively got worse. He was still a potent player, but at a time when he should have been in his prime, Baker’s stats were declining. The Sonics traded him to Boston in 2002, but his play got much worse, averaging only 5.2 Points in 2002-03. He was better the year after, but showed up to practice drunk. Baker was suspended and then released, but the New York Knicks picked him up, but was largely ineffective in a reserve role. He played 11 more NBA Games, three with Houston and seven with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Baker became more of a cautionary tale than a superstar.
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