Vin Baker

Four-time All-Star whose brilliant career was derailed by alcoholism — one of the NBA's most public recovery stories.

Vincent Lamont Baker was born in Lake Wales, Florida in 1971. Milwaukee Bucks selected him eighth overall in the 1993 NBA Draft from the University of Hartford. His 13-season career produced 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game along with four All-Star appearances. He averaged 21.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game in his finest season of 1996-97. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team. He was selected to four consecutive All-Star games from 1995 to 1998 — a reflection of genuine excellence rather than name recognition. He won Olympic gold with the USA at the Sydney 2000 Games. His career was progressively destroyed by alcoholism — a dependency that cost him his playing ability, his contract money and ultimately his career far earlier than his talent warranted. He lost an estimated $100 million in career earnings. After retirement he overcame his addiction and has spoken extensively about his recovery, working with rehabilitation organisations and speaking at schools and churches. He was briefly employed at a Starbucks in Connecticut after his career — a detail that received wide media attention and that he used to discuss addiction recovery publicly. His openness about his struggles made him one of sport's more important voices on substance dependency.

Athletic power forward with good shooting range and mobility

Versatile power forward who was one of the premier big men of the 1990s before personal struggles affected his career

• All-Star 4x
• Olympic Gold Medal (2000)
• All-NBA Third Team