MILWAUKEE — Vin Baker was the eighth draft pick of the Milwaukee Bucks and played with the team from 1993-1997. As his career continued, he struggled with alcohol addiction and eventually retired from the game. Determined to get back on track, Baker did everything necessary to reach sobriety and is now an Assistant Coach for the Bucks.
Overlooking the Fiserv Forum, he reminisced about the good ole days.
"A lot of great memories playing here with Glenn Robinson, playing with Ray Allen... a lot of great memories," said Baker.
Baker is back in Milwaukee, but he admits it's not something he could have ever imagined as he battled alcohol addiction during his basketball career.
"It's more than I ever expected on this journey in my sobriety journey. I didn't think that I'd ever have the opportunity... to be back in the NBA and then certainly to be coaching some of the best players in the world. It's a blessing," he said.
He's where he is today because of his sobriety. April 17 will mark 13 years of sobriety for him. Just two years into his sobriety an old friend was there to help.
"I had lost everything, you know like houses, reputation, money, friends, relationships, and one of the relationships I still had or at least I felt I had was Howard Schultz from Starbucks. He was the owner of the Sonics when I was there."
Schultz offered him a job managing a Starbucks.
"I wouldn't change my years at Starbucks being a manager and a barista because it really put me in a place to help me with my sobriety. The humility, the walking out putting on my green apron, the calling names in the store, like it really helped me to be in a place where I needed to be at that particular time in my life," said Baker.
Fast forward to today and Baker is ready to lend that same helping hand to others struggling with life's twists and turns through the Vin Baker Recovery Center.
"So my partners addiction Medical Solutions - Shawn Rogers, Michael Arico, we met through my foundation about two years ago. We started putting a plan in place and here we are two years later about two months away, three months away from opening the first Vin Baker Recovery here in Milwaukee and again this is going to be one of the best things I've ever done," said Baker.
The Milwaukee facility is scheduled to open in June near 76th and Hampton and a Green Bay location will open soon after that.
"So we'll be able to serve 700-800 people in a month there, so it's a great opportunity to save lives and get people back on the right track. I'm totally looking forward to it," said Baker.
Baker is not only an inspiration to those on the outside looking in, he's also a mentor to young basketball players, including his own son, Vin Baker, Jr.
"So my son here attends University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, so I'm very blessed to have turned my life around and be here not just as a role model for people, but for my own children. That means a lot to me."
His advice for those struggling with an addiction?
"Whatever the addiction is - is to prioritize health and life first. The biggest mistake I feel I struggled with was trying to prioritize my career, my reputation... in the process I was losing my life," said Baker.
A wise man once said, "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose."
Baker proclaimed, "When you find your purpose-driven life, you start living. This is purpose!"
