Fenerbahce won the Turkish championship on Friday night after edging Besiktas 77-75, and the decisive play came from former Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Wade Baldwin. With 5.7 seconds left and Fenerbahce trailing by one, Baldwin drove into the paint and, instead of forcing a shot, threw a behind-the-back pass to Nicolò Melli, who buried an uncontested three-pointer.
The move stunned head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, himself famous as a player for inventive passing. Cameras caught him saying, "Oh my God," after Baldwin's decision in the closing seconds of what Turkish fans described as one of the greatest plays in the country's basketball history.
The article explained the sequence from the reverse angle: Baldwin came off Melli's screen, entered the lane and found himself facing a triple team. When he rose for what looked like a layup, Anthony Brown jumped to contest the shot, and Baldwin quickly dropped his hand and slipped the ball to Bibrovic in a matter of tenths of a second. Bibrovic, one of the team's best shooters, converted the open look.
Baldwin said the assist only counted because the shot went in. "Bibrovic's basket brought us the championship. It was the moment of the season. Istanbul is amazing, and we will win many more titles," he said.
