Baker suspended indefinitely

The Celtics yesterday suspended Vin Baker indefinitely for noncompliance with his treatment program, likely moving the team one step closer to the termination of the power forward's contract.

A league doctor jointly selected by Baker and the Celtics notified the team of another incident of noncompliance yesterday. The current suspension resulted from a positive test for alcohol. On Jan. 6, Baker was fined and suspended for three games for his failure of multiple alcohol tests.

In accordance with an agreement reached by Baker and the Celtics last summer, the third incident of noncompliance results in an automatic suspension for an indefinite period, effective immediately. If the suspension reaches the 10-game mark, which would happen when Boston plays at Chicago Feb. 12 right before the All-Star break, Celtics officials can move to terminate the remainder of Baker's contract, worth approximately $35 million over 2 1/2 years. Coach Jim O'Brien said he would proceed as if Baker will not return for the remainder of the season.

"I'm very disappointed that things have not worked out for Vin," said O'Brien. "It's just a tragic turn of events. It's just a difficult disease to deal with and right now it would appear that he's not winning that battle."

The agreement Baker reached with the Celtics last summer provides for three strikes when there is "noncompliance." The first strike resulted in a fine. The second strike resulted in a three-game suspension. The third strike resulted in the indefinite suspension. Only league medical officials have the power to determine when, or even whether, Baker can return to the NBA. Each game of the suspension costs Baker approximately $150,000.

"We were sorry to learn of Vin's noncompliance," said owner Wyc Grousbeck. "As we have said throughout this process, we will continue to wish Vin the very best in his after-care."

"Noncompliance" can constitute anything from the failure of regular alcohol testing to the refusal to take a test to conscious disregard for treatment.

According to a league source, once Baker goes past strike three, the team has the right to make alcohol-related decisions and may exercise its rights under the uniform player contract and collective bargaining agreement and terminate Baker's contract. But termination of the contract is by no means a foregone conclusion. There could be arbitration.

Baker returned from his three-game suspension Jan. 13 at Milwaukee and saw his first playing time at Orlando Jan. 16. He scored 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench during the Celtics' loss to the Magic. He went scoreless in 13 minutes as a reserve against San Antonio last Sunday, then did not play because of a coach's decision during the win over the Heat Tuesday. He participated in practice Thursday, but reporters were told Baker would be unavailable for interviews because he had an "appointment."

"You've just got to be there to support him like I've told everybody in the past," said Paul Pierce. "My prayers go out to him and his family and you know we've just got to stick by him. I think [the indefinite suspension] shocked a few guys because nobody knew what was going on, but you know he's dealing with a difficult issue. He's dealing with a battle with life and guys have to be able to respect that and give him some space and support him."

Baker underwent treatment for alcoholism last spring at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Conn. As part of an extensive league-supervised after-care program, Baker is subject to regular alcohol testing. For the first six weeks of the season, the program appeared to work well as Baker earned the starting job at power forward, regularly played more than 30 minutes per game, and posted one of the best field goal percentages in the league. There was a noticeable decline in his play throughout December.

"Vin hasn't been playing, so what you've seen over the last two weeks is what the strategy is," said O'Brien. "There have been different things that might distract our team. This is the biggest one. I talked to the guys before the game and told them what the situation was and told them we will discuss it as a group more [today]. But we were 45 minutes before a game and needed to focus on what we needed to do to beat Washington, and they did."