Baker played his longest tenure with the Santa Cruz Warriors, starting with the 2004 season when the team was known as the Dakota Wizards in the Continental Basketball Association before the team moved to the NBA Development League in 2006. Baker has appeared in the second-most D-League games (356) in league history,[1] and is the Warriors' franchise all-time leader in points, minutes played, rebounds, assists, steals, and field goals made.[2]
Professional career
Over his first two professional seasons, between 2002 and 2004, Baker played in Russia, Syria and Mexico. His first stint in the United States came during the 2004–05 season, when he joined the Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball Association. After averaging 16.9 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds in 30 games for Dakota, he was called up to the NBA by the Los Angeles Clippers in February 2005.[3] The following month, he garnered another NBA stint, this time with the Portland Trail Blazers. Over two 10-day contract periods with the Clippers and Trail Blazers, Baker appeared in five games with limited court time.[4]
Baker's 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers ended up being his final playing time in the NBA, as the rest of his professional basketball career was played in the D-League and overseas. His final game was played on March 19, 2005, in a 92 - 97 loss to the Orlando Magic where he only played for 5 seconds and recorded no stats.
Baker returned to the Dakota Wizards for the 2005–06 season, playing with them until January 2006 when he moved to Lithuania to play for Lietuvos Rytas. In 12 league games for Rytas, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
In the summer of 2006, Baker underwent ankle surgery, and was deemed "about 80 percent of the player he was before" the surgery.[5] For the 2006–07 season, Baker returned to the Dakota Wizards, with the team now playing in the NBA Development League. In their first D-League season, Baker helped the Wizards win the championship, leading the team in rebounds with ten while scoring nineteen points in the Championship game against the Colorado 14ers.[6][7] He again played for Dakota in 2007–08, departing the team in January 2008 to join Paris-Levallois of the LNB Pro A.
In 2008–09, Baker again played in the NBA Development League for the Dakota Wizards, earning All-Star honors for the first time.[8] Following the season with Dakota, Baker moved to Puerto Rico for the 2009 BSN season, joining Atléticos de San Germán. He returned to Dakota for the 2009–10 season, before again playing in Puerto Rico in the off-season, this time joining Indios de Mayagüez.
For the 2010–11 season, Baker moved to Mexico where he played for Ola Verde de Poza Rica. In January 2011, he returned to the Dakota Wizards for the rest of the season.[2] He later had stints in the Philippines for the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters,[9] and in Venezuela for Guaiqueríes de Margarita.
Baker again played for the Dakota Wizards in 2011–12. He then played in the Dominican Republic during the 2012 off-season for Cañeros del Este.[10][11][12]
In 2012, the Wizards were moved from North Dakota to California by their NBA affiliate team, the Golden State Warriors.[13] The team was subsequently renamed the Santa Cruz Warriors, and Baker continued on with Santa Cruz. Between 2012 and 2016, Baker was a consistent presence on the Santa Cruz roster, earning his second D-League championship in the 2014–15 season.[14]
The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now plays as the Santa Cruz Warriors. Prior to entering the D-League in 2006, the Wizards spent 11 years playing in minor American leagues such as the International Basketball Association (IBA) and the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the minor league organization of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league was founded in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), renamed the NBA Development League in 2005. It received its present name in 2017 under a deal with Gatorade, becoming the first U.S. professional sports league named for an advertiser.
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