NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of The 1990s
By Phil Watson
50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 37. Vin Baker
The Milwaukee Bucks took a shot on Hartford big man Vin Baker, selecting him with the eighth overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Baker went on to earn All-Rookie honors in 1993-94 and went on two go to three All-Star games and earn an All-NBA nod for the Bucks.
He led the NBA in minutes played and minutes per game in 1994-95 with 3,361 and 41.0, respectively and was second in the league in minutes played in 1995-96, also finishing fifth in minutes per game.
He was traded in September 1997 to the Seattle SuperSonics as part of a three-team deal, with Milwaukee receiving Terrell Brandon, Tyrone Hill and a first-round pick in 1998 from the Cleveland Cavaliers and also sending Sherman Douglas to the Cavs.
In four seasons with the Bucks, Baker averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks in 38.3 minutes per game, shooting .494/.252/.634.
Baker was an All-Star and an All-NBA pick for the Sonics in 1997-98, finishing fifth in the league with a .542 field-goal percentage.
He returned for the 1998-99 season out of shape after the lengthy lockout and struggled to close out the decade.
In two seasons with Seattle in the 1990s, Baker averaged 17.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and one block in 35.4 minutes per game, shooting .518/1-for-10/.558.
Problems with alcohol abuse plagued his career in the new millennium. Baker was traded to the Boston Celtics in July 2002 along with Shammond Williams for Kenny Anderson, Joseph Forte and Vitaly Potapenko.
Released by the Celtics in February 2004, Baker caught on with the New York Knicks in March of that year, but was traded in February 2005 with Moochie Norris and a second-round pick in 2006 to the Houston Rockets for Maurice Taylor.
Houston released Baker in October 2005 and he went unsigned until getting a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers in February 2006.
The Minnesota Timberwolves brought Baker in as a free agent in October 2006, but he was waived before ever playing in a regular-season game.
He was 18th in the 1990s with an average of 9.0 rebounds per game.