Kamar Baldwin, the naturalized point guard leading Georgia: « He needs to be watched closely, » warns TLC
EuroBasket - Kamar Baldwin, naturalized Georgian in 2024, has become the leader of the national team. After playing at Butler in NCAA, Trento, Vitoria and now Bayern Munich, he represents the new generation of American point guards integrated into Georgian basketball. He will be one of the key players in Aleksandar Džikić's team this Sunday against France in the EuroBasket round of 16.
Photo Credit : FIBA
Recently joining Georgia, Kamar Baldwin (6’1″, 27) has established himself as the number one point guard option. A creative left-handed point guard, solid on defense and dangerous on offense, he follows a local tradition: that of naturalized scoring guards who have marked the country’s history, after Marquez Haynes or Thaddeus McFadden. With a win this Sunday against France in the EuroBasket round of 16, he would achieve even more than his predecessors. Let’s discover more.
From Butler to Europe: A Solid Journey
Originally from… Georgia, the US state not the country, Baldwin shone early in high school (2,593 points scored, Barrow County record) before joining Butler University. In four NCAA seasons, he left a lasting impression: All-Big East First Team in 2020, over 1,900 points scored, and several memorable game-winning shots (against Villanova, Xavier, and Marquette).
Undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft, he headed to Europe. His stints at Türk Telekom Istanbul (Turkey), Göttingen (Germany), and Maine Celtics (G-League) established him in professional basketball. In 2023-24, he broke out at Trento in EuroCup (15.2 points, 4.5 assists), before joining Baskonia. Alongside Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, he discovered EuroLeague averaging 8.1 points and 3.5 assists. His performances convinced rising European club Bayern Munich to sign him.
A Rewarding Naturalization for Georgia
Selected by Georgia in 2024, Baldwin quickly assumed a central role. During EuroBasket qualifications, he averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in two games. In preparation games, his stats decreased (7 points average), but his value is undisputed: he’s the primary playmaker for a team that primarily plays through its big men (Goga Bitadze, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Tornike ‘Toko’ Shengelia and Giorgi Shermadini).
At EuroBasket, he’s currently averaging 10 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 29 minutes, but at a particular rhythm: Georgia has the lowest PACE in the tournament (68.2 possessions per game). In other words, his numbers should be contextualized within a very slow and highly hierarchical playing style. His only weakness remains his lack of outside shooting: 28% from 3-point range on 5 attempts per game.
GEORGIA IS BACK BAYYYY#EuroBasket x @_GeoBasketball pic.twitter.com/d0cU3GQdbm
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 4, 2025
Observers’ Perspective
His former teammate at Baskonia, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, summarized his profile:
« He’s a very good point guard who had his first EuroLeague season with us. He needed time to adapt to EuroLeague, but he adjusted very well and quickly. I think playing for Georgia helped him. He’s a lefty who can finish with both hands, capable of scoring at all three levels – at the rim, mid-range, or three-point range. Also, when he wants to, he can be a very good defender. He’s someone we really need to watch closely because he can easily score 20 points in a game. »
French national team coach Frédéric Fauthoux, who faced him with Bourg-en-Bresse during his time at Trento, also warns:
« He had a very good season at Vitoria, which is why he’s joining Bayern. We’ll need to limit him significantly because these American players, when they play for nations like this, know they have a lot of credit, lots of shots. They become even more dangerous. »
Baldwin, Symbol of Continuity for Georgia
Georgia has long integrated naturalized guards into its project: Marquez Haynes (ex-Chalon) or Thaddeus McFadden (ex-Nancy) had already paved the way. Kamar Baldwin follows this lineage, but with even greater importance: he’s not just a complementary shooter, but the orchestrator of a team that plays old-school basketball, where each possession is carefully weighted.
In the round of 16 against France, Baldwin will be the perimeter key to Georgia’s game plan: tempo management, late-clock shooting, and ability to exploit help defense sent to Bitadze, Mamukelashvili, Shengelia or Shermadini.
Gabriel Pantel-Jouve est le fondateur et rédacteur en chef de BeBasket, qu’il anime depuis 2010 (sous le nom de Catch & Shoot). Passé par l’Ecole Publique de Journaliste de Tours, puis deux universités en Amérique du Nord, il a pu développer son expertise sur le basket français, de la Ligue Nationale aux divisions amateurs, durant ces 20 dernières années. En parallèle, il est aussi engagé dans le développement de clubs du côté de Montpellier.
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