By Antonis Stroggylakis / astroggylakis@eurohoops.net
ABU DHABI –He was tired, battered, bruised, and carried some huge scratches on his right arm.
Most importantly, though, he was happy. After playing in the EuroLeague for six seasons with five different teams, Wade Baldwin became a EuroLeague champion Sunday (25/5) when his Fenerbahce Beko team beat AS Monaco in the Final.
“I’ve become legendary”, said Baldwin to Eurohoops.“I’m a two-time All-EuroLeague player, and gave up a little bit of a sacrifice to my game to become a EuroLeague champion.”
Baldwin was a leading figure at most of the teams he played for and had MVP-caliber runs in 2023 and 2024 with Maccabi Tel Aviv when he was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team.
When he signed with Fener, he knew that he would be an important player but not the main character. That he would have to take a slightly smaller role than usual on a team with many quality performers.
It paid off in the best manner imaginable.
“That’s the perfect trade-off for me,” he added.
The battle scars were visible on Baldwin’s upper arm. Badges of honor for surviving an intense physical dogfight against Monaco.
“This is Monaco style basketball,” Baldwin said when asked about the scratches. “They are an extremely good team. It feels good to beat Monaco. I came in with the opportunity to beat Panathinaikos and then Monaco to become champions. It feels great. Our team did a perfect job in these games. Unbelievable feeling.”
Baldwin was ejected with 2:29 remaining and Fener up 68 – 59, after being called with an unsportsmanlike foul for not letting Matthew Strazel land after he jumped for a 3-point attempt. He moved at the side of the bench to watch the rest of the game standing up.
While obviously annoyed for not being able to be on the floor in these last crucial minutes, he was more than confident that his teammates would get the job done.
“I felt that the game was in our hands. We had the edge the whole time,” Baldwin mentioned. “But it sucked. It sucked not being able to be out there. But when you’re part of this team and you engrave yourself on helping and sacrificing, you’re just happy with the good result.”