Wade Baldwin explains his outburst vs referee, refutes 'bad guy' label / News - Basketnews.com

Baldwin says it's very tough for black Americans to be successful in Europe, mainly due to the treatment they get from referees. He dismissed being a difficult-to-manage guy and claimed to have no difficulties with any of his teammates.

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv's start guard Wade Baldwin IV had a fiery outburst against a referee after the final whistle two months ago. The player has now explained everything in-depth, claiming the life for Americans is tougher call-wise.

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In a lengthy interview with Omri Manheim from Sport5, Baldwin explained the moment.

"It's both. You have your obvious reason, and the politically correct is you should never behave like that after a game, you should never treat somebody like that and act out. You need to be very professional in what your response is. You need to just let the play go. He called a call, honor it, and go from there. That's the correct answer to say. It's how you should behave," Baldwin began before turning the other way.

The player admitted it's harder for him, a twitchy, athletic guard, to get calls in European basketball. That's an issue a lot of Americans face after coming to play here.

"I'll speak on behalf of all American players that play out here, that go through a bit of unjust situations sometimes during games and through the business of basketball just in general. It's very hard, I would say, for black Americans to be successful here," Baldwin said. "It's just a rough business because there are so many of us that come through here, you see a lot of guys that come in and out of the situation. It's very important for you to align yourself with good situations to perform well."

"In that specific situation, it's very tough being officiated by European referees," the star guard continued. "It's a different style of gameplay than what you're accustomed to. With me personally, I feel like I'm one of the tougher people to officiate. A lof of times I'm stronger, I make very quick moves that it's hard to make a split-second call. That was a situation where it was a build-up. You go through small things, you try to communicate, and it didn't go the way for me, so I reacted."

3-pointers this season

36%8,7Points made:8,7Accuracy:36,4%Place in standings:13Record max:15Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Tamir BlattTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Baldwin was later fined by the EuroLeague.

Although he claims it's tougher for black Americans, it's not racially motivated, Baldwin says.

"It's not racial, it's just tough. As an American, you are always competing with the next NBA guy that's coming over. I was an NBA guy that was coming over to EuroLeague or to European competition, and there are kids in colleges constantly, constantly coming over. You feel you have to be at the top of your game at all times," Baldwin explained. "In terms of officiating, you're coming from a different environment."

"In America, they might be a little more handsy or they may call this so the game solves this way, so that's what you're accustomed to doing. Now transitioning to this game, you have to adapt your game, you have to adapt your culture, you have to adapt your mindset - everything has to be adapted, and it's very difficult to do that all the time," he declared.

It was not the first time his temper got the best of him during a basketball game. Even though he's a top-level EuroLeague guard, Baldwin has gotten himself a reputation for being tough to manage.

A 'bad guy' label has chased Baldwin since his days with Olympiacos Piraeus. He refutes it.

"You can definitely find examples of my temper getting the best of me. You can look at anybody and say, 'We got him mad and got him out of his game.' I can show you games where I was upset and there was a temper, it turned out the right way," he said. "It's just how I am as a player. The players on the team, the coaches, they understand who I am, they understand that the main goal behind it is, 'Wade is so competitive.'"

"I don't live in a world with labels. I live in a world of 'I'm competitive, I'm a competitive basketball player.' I want to win games, that's it. Anybody who stepped on the floor who wants to be great and wants to win every single time he plays, that's how I want to label it. I understand. It's the way it is, but I've never been that way. I just haven't," Baldwin explained his stance.

In his Olympiacos days, Baldwin got into a conflict with Brandon Paul. Paul later described Baldwin to BasketNews as difficult to be around and play with before admitting Baldwin has significantly improved since.

Looking back at the conflict, Baldwin says he's never had any difficulties getting along with anybody.

"I'm not locked up with teammates. With teammates, I've found the majority of the teams I've played on, they always wanted me back, and I have a great relationship and great energy with all of them. I was involved in one situation in one team, then it wasn't like that. That was a very tough year in Olympiacos for everyone on the roster, and that's what was reported. Since then, it's been very good, I've had good relationships. That's where I've been," he concluded.

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