Kamar Baldwin’s first coach was his uncle, but his mother also played basketball in high school and college. The path of the 24-year-old seemed mapped out. Nevertheless, the American, who grew up in the state of Georgia, was also able to look around in other sports. From the third grade through to middle school, he played American football, tried his hand at athletics, and also played football for a year. “But the main thing was basketball.”
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This sport brought him to Europe in 2020. “I really enjoyed my four years in college. But the end was difficult because of Corona, ”says Baldwin. The Guard signed his first professional contract in Turkey after graduating from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is about an eight-hour drive from his home in Barrow County. For Türk Telekom he also played in the Champions League in the capital Ankara, a new chapter. “Not everyone has the opportunity to continue playing basketball after college. I am grateful that I got this chance. I’ve played with players who have brought experience from the NBA and European leagues. They helped me a lot to understand European basketball, which is different from the one in the USA. “
Baldwin came to Göttingen because BG head coach Roel Moors contacted him and made an offer. Some of the players he played against in college or saw them broadcast were like “decoys” to the basketball player. He knew Stephen Brown and Jeff Roberson personally; he had seen Jake Toolson play on television. “I had the feeling that we fit together well and that we could do something very special here.” He also liked the “all around” that BG can offer – from the weight room to the ice bin.
And he likes his team. “We have fun together, push each other in training every day and try to make each other better.” He describes the coaching team as “organized and well prepared – and honest”. It takes care of both the team and each player individually. Baldwin initially dismisses his successful league start as top scorer after four match days, but then admits that he always demands “the highest level” of himself. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m the top scorer. It’s important to me to help the team win the games in all areas. And right now it’s scoring. “
You can find the current game booklet for the game against Oldenburg HERE
Baldwin says of the violet fans that they surprised him. “I didn’t expect this atmosphere. You absolutely helped us win the last few games. “
So far he has got to know Göttingen as a “quiet city”. Baldwin lives with his girlfriend Michelle and their six-month-old daughter Kaylin near the professional fire department. In the city they can often be found in the “coffeehouse”, eat ice cream and have already tried a few restaurants. They came to Göttingen together, in Turkey the basketball player was alone. He missed his daughter’s birth in March by a day because the doctor hadn’t expected Kaylin to be in such a hurry to be born. Instead of the forecast one week, the little girl only had two days – it was all too fast to rebook flights and get the necessary result of a corona test so that he could get to the USA on time.
Baldwin answers in the profile on the homepage of the BG Göttingen that his career aspiration, if he did not play basketball professionally, would be a sound engineer. He has the training to do this, he graduated from college in the subject of “music industry”. As a child and adolescent, he played drums, but has always been interested in music. His preferences are broad, they range from gospel to rap, hiphop, jazz, classical music, rock, pop “to Michael Jackson”.
Baldwin and his teammates receive the EWE Baskets Oldenburg on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Göttingen Sparkassen-Arena. Tickets are still available in the BG ticket shop (https://bggoettingen-ticketshop.reservix.de/events) or via the ticket hotline at 0800-6050400.
Don’t start dreaming
While at the BG Göttingen, which was able to train with a full line-up in the past week of training, self-confidence continues to grow thanks to three victories in a row – including the success at the German champion Alba Berlin – the opposite is the case with the upcoming Violet opponent. The EWE Baskets Oldenburg had certainly imagined the start of the BBL season differently. The Northwest Germans only managed one victory in the first five league games – the Baskets were also eliminated in the cup.
“Oldenburg is a much better team than the table currently shows, and a high-quality opponent,” said BG assistant coach Olivier Foucart before the home game on Sunday at 3 pm. “We mustn’t start dreaming and thinking that everything is easy for us. Oldenburg only lost heavily against Berlin, in all other games they had a chance to win this too. You are in the process of finding a way to be successful, ”said Foucart. “We still have to implement our defensive game plan correctly and take away our opponents’ strengths.”
