101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
Real Madrid, told me the reasons that pushed him to
sign Alexis:
“We were looking for a power forward, one who
could not only rebound but also shoot. There was a lack
of this kind of player on the market back then. We set
our sights on Wendell and we hit the mark. He was a super
player, a serious man who fit into the team just fine.
He never hid. He had lots of self-confidence because he
knew he could do many things. He had also great physical
readiness and good legs to play defense, plus long
hands to defend any opponent.”
There’s a video available on the Internet that
showcases his character perfectly. In the final of the
Korac Cup between Real Madrid and Cibona, Madrid
won the first game of the series at home by 102-89 in
front of 12,000 fans. Fernando Romay and Brad Branson
scored 25 points each and Alexis added 21, but
the play of the game was a spectacular slam by Alexis
over Croatian giant Franjo Arapovic (2.15). Also, Alexis
volunteered to defend Drazen Petrovic, who managed
to score 21 points but with bad percentages, making
just 3 of 12 two-pointers and 3 of 8 threes. All credit
goes to Alexis.
In the second game, Petrovic scored 47 points, but
Cibona only won by a point, 94-93, so Real Madrid took
the trophy. It was the first European trophy for Wendell
Alexis, who was 25 years old, just entering his prime.
He ended that season with similar numbers to the ones
he had in Valladolid: 18.0 points per game in the regular
season, 18.7 in the playoffs. However, FC Barcelona
ended up taking the title by winning the final series 3-2.
Despite playing well, Alexis had to leave Real Madrid
because back then the number of foreign players was
limited to two, and Real Madrid had already signed Drazen
Petrovic and Johnny Rogers.
Italian League champ... for a half-hour
Alexis chose Italy and the humble Livorno as
his next stop, and he ended up being Italian League
champ – for 30 minutes, at least. He had two excellent
seasons there, scoring 20.8 and 19.4 points on average.
After that, he moved to Ticino Siena, which at that
time was far from the heights it would reach early in
the 21st century. There he put up 20.3 points and 5.9
rebounds, after which he switched to Trapani, where
he played his two best seasons in Italy. In 1991-92,
Alexis scored 25.2 points and pulled 7.8 rebounds per
game; in 1992-93, he improved to 25.8 and 8.3! It was
the right time to sign for a big team again. He chose
Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he won the 1993-94 Israeli
League title and was that season’s MVP, but he decided
to return to Italy. In Reggio Calabria, he posted his usual
numbers, 20.9 points and 6.8 boards. The following
campaign he landed in France with Paris Levallois, and
once again was consistent, with 22.5 points plus 5.5
rebounds per game.
I will never understand how no really big teams
after Real Madrid and Maccabi ever signed this great
player, but on the other hand, the fact that ALBA
Berlin chose him to become the pillar of its growing
project was the key moment for the evolution of the
club. In the summer of 1996, at 32 years old, Wendell
Alexis joined ALBA. He would stay there for six years,
winning six straight German League titles plus three
German Cups. He became the top scorer of all time in
the club and a true idol for the fans of the team. Marco
Baldi, general manager of ALBA for many years, told
me about Alexis’s role in the club:
“Wendell Alexis is not only one of the biggest players
in the history of ALBA. He is a great personality and a
long-time friend that I have the utmost respect for,” Baldi
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