Getty Golden State Warriors rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. fires up a shot during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
After logging a pair of DNPs in the immediate aftermath of his breakout game against the Brooklyn Nets on December 21, Golden State Warriors rookie Patrick Baldwin Jr. was back on the attack on Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz.
In just 13 minutes of play for the shorthanded Dubs, Baldwin put up 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting — and 3-of-5 from deep — while adding three boards and a steal. Along the way, Golden State outscored Lauri Markkanen and Co. by a team-best 13 points when he was on the floor.
Without him, the Warriors may not have come back from the double-digit deficit they faced late in the third quarter.
As big as his contributions were to the 112-107 win, though, Baldwin revealed during his postgame media availability that, a few days earlier, he experienced what might have been an even more momentous occasion in his life.
Patrick Baldwin Jr (PBJ) Eats His First PB & J
Baldwin and fellow rookie Ryan Rollins had about as a wild a day as an NBA baller can have — outside of something on the catastrophic level occurring — on Wednesday.
The 20-year-olds actually began the day practicing with the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors, only to be informed mid-afternoon that the Big Dubs could use them… after they had already gone through the session. So, the pair was whisked away by car and brought back to the Bay where, mere hours later, Baldwin played a key role in helping the Warriors get back to the .500 mark.
After the win, the rookie was asked about his go-to car snack, since he likely hadn’t gotten the chance to eat a real lunch or dinner. That question prompted the following exchange (which yielded a startling revelation:
“It’s now a PBJ sandwich,” Baldwin said. “So, I just had my first one the other day.”
“Your first one the other day?” the reporter fired back.
“First one the other day.”
“Ever?”
“Ever… Yeah, ever,” Baldwin confirmed.
That’s right — the baller whose initials are PBJ went his first two decades of life without ever having eaten a peanut butter and jelly (PB & J) sandwich. Instead, his mother made him “turkey sandwiches, cream cheese bagels — anything except a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
Added Baldwin: “I definitely missed out.”
So why did he finally decide to take the plunge now?
“I believe we’ll see in a few days what it was, but it was a fun project we worked on and I got to try my first one… you’ll see it soon.”
Donte DiVincenzo Praises PBJ’s Performance
For any player to experience what Baldwin did and still find a way to have an impact would be impressive. For a seldom-used rookie to have done it is a whole other level of rising to occasion, a fact that wasn’t lost on veteran guard Donte DiVincenzo.
“It’s not easy,”DiVincenzo said, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I think for him coming in, just tell him to be aggressive. Don’t worry about anything else just be aggressive. Defensively, he was good. He was talking out there which is really hard for a young player in that environment to talk. We are on him every day about talking, and I think he did a great job tonight. We definitely needed it.”