Ex-NBA star Vin Baker conquers demons and shoots for success in Starbucks management
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — The world’s tallest, and perhaps most famous, barista is stationed behind a busy coffee counter. His smile and easy-going style welcome customers looking for their Starbucks fix as they fastbreak to work or South County’s beaches.
“I love North Kingstown. It reminds me of my hometown, so it’s comfortable,” says the man, who stretches to 6-feet-11. “I like this community. Starbucks draws a lot of repeat customers and so many know me now.”
This is Vin Baker’s world these days. This is the same Baker who grew up in Old Saybrook, Conn., and went on to become one of New England’s all-time great collegiate basketball players at the University of Hartford. It’s the same Baker who won Olympic gold in 2000, played in four NBA All-Star Games and spent 13 years in the pros, including parts of two seasons with the Celtics.
It’s also the same Baker who battled alcoholism toward the end of his career. That addiction, plus a series of financial missteps ranging from a failed restaurant to simply too many hands dipping into his gold-plated cookie jar, combined to wipe out nearly $100 million in earnings.
Now 43, newly married and with four children, Baker is training to manage a Starbucks franchise. He thanks CEO Howard Shultz, the former Seattle SuperSonics owner, with this opportunity. He’s also a trained minister who savors work at his father’s church in Connecticut. Most important, he has been sober for more than four years.
“In this company there are opportunities for everyone. I have an excellent situation here at Starbucks and the people are wonderful,” Baker says.
Hoop fans might shake their heads and view Baker’s life as a tragic, unfortunate fall from grace. Baker doesn’t see it that way. At all. He says his story is one of redemption, of conquering demons and searching for success in this next phase of life.
“When you learn lessons in life, no matter what level you’re at financially, the important part to realize is it could happen,” he said. “I was an alcoholic, I lost a fortune. I had a great talent and lost it. For the people on the outside looking in, they’re like 'Wow.’ For me, I’m 43 and I have four kids. I have to pick up the pieces. I’m a father. I’m a minister in my father’s church. I have to take the story and show that you can bounce back. If I use my notoriety in the right way, most people will appreciate that this guy is just trying to bounce back in his life.”
Baker, who lives in Groton, would love to balance a retail management career with some basketball. He recently accepted an invitation from former teammate Jason Kidd and worked with the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff in the Las Vegas Summer League. He’s extremely well-spoken and has counseled current, and former, athletes on the challenges they face. Few have a tale like his.
Baker was the eighth player picked in the 1993 draft after his starry career as Hartford’s all-time greatest hoopster. He signed a 10-year, $17.5-deal with the Bucks and within two years was an All-Star. He was traded to Seattle in 1997 where he signed a seven-year, $86-million deal.
More superb play followed but by the time the Sonics traded him to Boston in 2002, Baker’s star was fading. In 2004 he recorded double-doubles in 21 of his first 35 games but clashes with coach Jim O’Brien ultimately revealed issues with alcohol. Baker told the New York Daily News in 2013 that by then he was leading “a double life,” star power forward at TD Garden, a binge drinker on the side.
The Celtics suspended him three times and ultimately terminated his contract with nearly $35 million remaining. The players union filed a grievance on Baker's behalf and the two sides eventually reached a financial settlement. Quick stops with the Knicks, Rockets and Clippers followed but by 2006 Baker’s career was over.
Financial problems were Baker’s next hurdle. He lost a home in a Durham, Conn., development he was a partner in and a restaurant, Vinnie’s Saybrook Fish House, soured. In 2012 he sued his accountant, Donald S. Brodeur, for mismanagement and breach of contract. Baker said that lawsuit has “been resolved, somewhat favorably,” but makes it clear he needs to work to support his family.
“When you make choices and decisions and think that it will never end, and then you get into spending and addiction and more spending, it’s a definite formula for losing,” he said. “If you don’t have perspective in your personal life and you don’t understand what this $1 million or $15 million means, it will go.”
When he was in Las Vegas with the Bucks, he couldn’t help but talk to some players about their finances. He sees “fourth or fifth options” on some NBA teams signing players to $50-, $60-million deals these days and wonders if anyone in management is considering the challenges that await.
“I appreciate that in a lot of cases it’s more money, more problems,” he says. “I think in professional sports today teams have to deal with the personal challenges of giving young men this extraordinary amount of money. For me it was a struggle. I think when you’re giving guys who aren’t even All-Stars $80 million, there should be a framework in place where these kids can talk to someone.”
Asked what would sit atop his list of talking points, Baker said “I’d want guys to not take the money for granted. It can be here today and gone tomorrow. It can be gone from the wrong financial choices and decisions and people that you’re involved with or, in my case, gone from things that you struggle with off the court. As quickly as that contract can be signed, there are a hundred things that can also ruin it.
“I would insist that you surround yourself with the person you trust the absolute most, someone who can tell you, 'You’re wrong, don’t buy that, don’t go there, that person’s no good.’ I would also say be able to monitor every single dime that comes out of your accounts as if you’re a Starbucks barista. My check here I know exactly where my money goes. Don’t trust it with an accountant or a family friend. Make sure you’re aware and be responsible because next thing you know people are stealing from you.”
Like all recovering alcoholics, Baker says every day is both a challenge and a blessing. He now clearly has the perspective of a middle-aged man, not a fresh-faced, 22-year old newly minted millionaire who’s the life of the party. He just wants a chance to keep bouncing back.
“For me this could have ended most likely in jail or death. That’s how these stories usually end,” he says. “For me to summon the strength to walk out here and get excited about retail management at Starbucks and try to provide for my family, I feel that’s more heroic than being 6-11 with a fade-away jump shot. I get energy from waking up in the morning and, first of all, not depending on alcohol, and not being embarrassed or ashamed to know I have a family to take care of. The show’s got to go on.”
kmcnamar@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @KevinMcNamara33
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