HoopsHype.com Columns

Baker's battle
by Chad Finn / January 25, 2004

The record shows that Vin Baker averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game this season. But those numbers are irrelevant today, for there is another statistic that now defines the troubled Boston Celtics forward, a statistic that reveals a harsh truth.

According to Alcoholics Anonymous, more than 50 percent of alcoholics fail more than one attempt at sobriety.

This past Thursday, basketball fans learned that Baker had joined that unhealthy majority. He was suspended indefinitely by the Celtics for noncompliance with the aftercare program he had set up with the team after receiving treatment for alcohol dependency last summer.

It was the 32-year-old Baker's third such violation in recent weeks. On Jan. 6, he was suspended for three
games after reportedly failing several alcohol tests. His first violation, which went undisclosed by the team, resulted in a fine.

And so the sad saga continues. Call them cynical if you must, but Celtics fans are something less than shocked by this. Anyone who watched Baker at all in recent weeks simply had to have seen this coming. In mid-December, his play had taken a drastic turn for the worse. So had his mood. He was sluggish on the court (in the increasingly rare instances when coach Jim O'Brien played him) and sad-eyed off it.

It was disheartening to watch, but it was not unfamiliar. The scene was reminiscent of last season, when the four-time All-Star stumbled through 52 games before being suspended from the team and ultimately seeking help.

It's hard to believe at this hour, but only a few weeks ago all outward signs suggested his recovery was progressing remarkably well. Baker's comeback was the feel-good story of the new season. If he didn't look like an entirely new man, he certainly looked like a happier, healthier one.

Baker was at least 20 pounds lighter -- his teammates called him "Skinny Vinny" upon his arrival at training camp -- and darned if he couldn't still play. His post moves were always textbook, but now he could finish with grace. Baker may be the only player in basketball history who regained his quickness north of his 30th birthday.

He scored 15 points on opening night and 24 two nights later. On Nov. 11, he hit the winning shot in a 78-76 road victory over Indiana. Owner Wyc Grousbeck has said more than once that one of his proudest moments of the season was congratulating Baker after that victory.

The moment must seem so long ago to both men now.

To their credit, Grousbeck, Danny Ainge and the Celtics have treated Baker with fairness and compassion, as a human being rather than expendable Employee No. 42. Now that Baker has regressed again, we hope they respond with further kindness. We trust that they will.

But no one needs to tell them that professional basketball is a business as much as it is a sport, and at this point the Celtics ownership would be fiscally foolish to not want to get out from under the $35 million left on Baker's contract.

Amazingly, the aftercare agreement may allow them to do just that. According to some media reports, the
remainder of Baker's contract can be voided if his suspension extends to 10 games. If it is indeed an option and the Celtics do take such a course of action, the players' union almost certainly will offer staunch resistance. Yes, this could get messy.

Let's hope this doesn't turn into a battle in a different kind of court. Baker doesn't need that hassle right now. What he needs, obviously, is to get his life in order. Something as trivial as the game of basketball or even the handsome fee he gets paid for playing it should not be on his list of priorities right now. He has far more important things to worry about.

To put it another way: he consciously risked $30-plus million simply to taste booze again. If that isn't a cry for help, please, don't tell me what is.

Know what's the worst part of all this? Baker is as nice a person as you'll encounter in the NBA. Meet him, and you can't help but like him. He's genuine and generous, an easy guy to cheer. While his problems may be self-inflicted, he remains an endearing and sympathetic character in part because of his warm personality.

Watching him smile as he sprinted up and down the court during the season's early days, we couldn't help
but hope that he had defeated his demons. We believed he had . . . until recently anyway. Foolish us.

Turns out Vin Baker fooled a lot of people: his fans, his employers, perhaps even himself.

The only people who weren't deceived, one must figure, were his fellow alcoholics. Many of them long ago learned that the real truth can be discovered easily enough if you truly want to face it.

It's right there. In one cold AA statistic.

Chad Finn is an award-winning sports columnist and a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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