Wade Baldwin will travel to Play-In game vs. Baskonia / News - Basketnews.com

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's scorer, Wade Baldwin, did not travel with the club to Belgrade due to an issue with his son's passport but will fly to Serbia today and join team practice.

Credit: Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv can breathe a sigh of relief as Wade Baldwin will join the team in Belgrade, after a small delay, where their first Play-In game will take place versus Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Wade Baldwin IV

MIN:28.24PTS:17.7 (57.58%)REB:2.74As:4.85ST:1.07BL:0.15TO:2.78GM:27ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

According to Arel Ginsber, Wade Baldwin did not board the flight with Maccabi Tel Aviv to Belgrade due to "bureaucratic problems," and the American guard is currently in Israel while his team is in Serbia.

To clarify the "bureaucratic problems" and Baldwin's situation, the club released an announcement on the matter. There was a problem with the passport of Baldwin's son. As a result, neither he nor his family could leave Israel to travel to Serbia.

However, as the matter is slated to be resolved today, Baldwin is expected to fly to Belgrade today and join the team in practice.

The Play-In game on Tuesday at 19:00 CEST is of immense importance for both Baskonia and Maccabi. The winner will claim the 7th spot in the EuroLeague playoffs and because of that, Baldwin's presence is particularly important for the Israeli team.

Even if Maccabi loses, they will still have the chance to finish 8th. If such a scenario unfolds, they will host the winner of the 9-10 match-up in Belgrade. It will be either Virtus Segafredo Bologna or Anadolu Efes Istanbul for the final bid for the EuroLeague playoffs.

After the outbreak of clashes in the Israeli-Palestinian region, Maccabi elected to play a lot of its games elsewhere in Europe while mainly utilizing Belgrade and Stark Arena as their home court, which has created logistical difficulties for them, such as the one in this article.

As for Baldwin, he has been fantastic for his team this year, averaging 17.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. His name is often mentioned for the MVP race and the All-EuroLeague First Team selections.

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