NBA star Vin Baker lost everything to alcoholism and money woes

YOU may remember him as the guy who helped the Dream Team win Olympic gold. Now he’s the giant behind the counter at Starbucks.

VIN Baker understands most people will look at his situation and believe he screwed it all up.

But, the way he looks at it, Baker is finally brewing some self respect in his life.

The 43-year-old four-time NBA All-Star lost almost $100 million but found happiness pouring coffees at Starbucks.

Do not feel sorry for the 2.11m Olympic gold medallist and NBA great.

He’s not sorry.

“For me this could have ended most likely in jail or death. That’s how these stories usually end,” Baker told the Providence Journal.

Vin Baker at his local Starbucks.

“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.”

The No. 8 pick at the 1993 draft, who was forced into retirement in 2006 after 13 seasons in the NBA with six different teams, now holds court at his local Starbucks in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

It’s a town of about 26,000 people just over an hour drive south of Boston, where he was once the star attraction at the Celtics’ famous TD Gardens home court.

Now he settles for the smiles he gets by shocked customers recognising him as arguably the world’s most famous — and tallest — barista.

Newly married and with four children, Baker is training to become a store manager. He’s a trained pastor at his dad’s church and has done coaching and mentoring in the NBA’s development league.

And he’s happy with that. It’s because he’s four years sober. Baker says that fact is the reason his story is about redemption.

“When you learn lessons in life, no matter what level you’re at financially, the important part to realise is it could happen,” he said.

Vin Baker battled alcoholism at the Knicks.

“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 was traded and sacked by several teams after his off-court demons eventually followed him onto the court at the end of his career.

Boston suspended him three times before his contract was terminated. He spent two seasons at the Knicks, one with Houston and one with the Los Angeles Clippers. Then it was all over.

His alcohol addiction continued to dictate the direction of his life and then the financial burdens set in.

First there was a series of minor bungled investments. Then he lost a house when a development project never eventuated. He opened a restaurant — Vinnie’s Saybrook Fish House — which failed.

He sued his accountant for mismanagement and breach of contract.

And when the dust settled, Baker realised it was time to get a real job.

“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.

“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.”

Originally published as NBA star Vin Baker lost everything to alcoholism and money woes