Maurice Baker (born July 28, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He last played for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League. He played college basketball for Dixie State College and Oklahoma State University, and has spent time in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers. He has also played professionally in Russia, Syria, Mexico, Lithuania, France, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
 | |
| Indiana Pacers | |
|---|---|
| Position | Assistant coach |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | July 28, 1979 Madison, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Madison (Madison, Illinois) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2002: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2002–2016 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career | 2022–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2002–2003 | Avtodor Saratov |
| 2004 | Al-Ittihad |
| 2004 | Correcaminos Matamoros |
| 2004–2005 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2005 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 2005 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 2005–2006 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2006 | Lietuvos Rytas |
| 2006–2008 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2008 | Paris-Levallois |
| 2008–2009 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2009 | Atléticos de San Germán |
| 2009–2010 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2010 | Indios de Mayagüez |
| 2010 | Ola Verde de Poza Rica |
| 2011 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2011 | Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters |
| 2011 | Guaiqueríes de Margarita |
| 2011–2012 | Dakota Wizards |
| 2012 | Cañeros del Este |
| 2012–2016 | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| As coach: | |
| 2022–present | Indiana Pacers (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
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
editOver 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]
Coaching career
editPrior to the start of the 2022–23 NBA season, Baker was hired as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers under head coach Rick Carlisle.[15]
NBA career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | L.A. Clippers | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 2004–05 | Portland | 4 | 0 | 4.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .5 | .3 | .3 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 5 | 0 | 3.8 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .4 | .2 | .2 | .0 | .0 |
References
edit- ^ Santa Cruz Warriors Re-Acquire Moe Baker
- ^ a b Veteran Guard Returns To Dakota Wizards
- ^ Clippers Sign Baker, Place Livingston On IL
- ^ Maurice Baker 2004-05 Game Log
- ^ D-League showcase: Maurice Baker might help a contender at this point
- ^ An Ode to the Importance of NBA D-League Veteran Maurice Baker
- ^ "Boxscore". scores.nba.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ NBA D-League All-Star 2009 Archived 2016-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The New Import Of Talk 'n Text Tropang Texters For Governor's Cup 2011: Maurice Baker
- ^ MAURICE BAKER DEBUTA HOY CON CAÑEROS DEL ESTE Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
- ^ Cañeros del Este se sacuden ante Metros Santiago (in Spanish)
- ^ Mario West le da vida a los Cañeros del Este (in Spanish)
- ^ Dakota Wizards to Santa Cruz? Makes sense for both the Warriors and Surf City
- ^ "Title Wave: Santa Cruz Wins NBA D-League Championship". NBA.com. April 26, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ^ "Maurice Baker". nbacoaches.com. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
External links
edit- Maurice Baker at nbadleague.com
- Maurice Baker Oklahoma State profile
- Maurice Baker at lnb.fr
- Maurice Baker is the legend you never heard of