101 Greats of European Basketball

said. “With him, we went on an unprecedented string of
victories. During Wendell’s six years with ALBA, we won
six consecutive German championships, three German
Cups and became a force in the EuroLeague. Wendell is
still ALBA’s all-time leading scorer. In his time in Berlin,
he earned the nickname ‘Ice Man’ as he was able to hit
numerous game-winning and championship shots. In
September 2012, we retired Wendell’s jersey (#12) in an
emotional ceremony. Even 12 years after his last game,
well over 7,000 fans attended the ceremony to celebrate
an important figure in the history of ALBA Berlin.”
In a spectacular homage in September of 2012, as
Baldi mentions, ALBA retired Alexis’s jersey number 12.
It made perfect sense, as it’s very difficult to imagine
anyone other than the Ice Man wearing that number as
he had done during those wonderful six seasons, winning
nine titles and scoring 5,922 points in 341 games.
Personally, I didn’t see many live games with Alexis, but I
do remember when he played at Hala Pionir in Belgrade
in February of 1989. In the semis of the Korac Cup,
the great Real Madrid – with Martin, Biriukov, Romay,
Iturriaga, Branson and Alexis, who scored 17 points –
defeated Crvena Zvezda by 82-89. In Madrid, the score
was 81-72 with 24 points by Alexis. That season, in 12
games, Alexis averaged 19 points. After that, I saw
some games of his in ALBA’s jersey and especially at the
1998 World Championships in Athens, where a team
of American “volunteers” appeared, due to the NBA
lockout. He was the second-best scorer of that team,
which won the bronze medal, with only 2 points fewer
than Jimmy Oliver. His averages were 11.6 points and
4 rebounds. Against the Argentina team with Nicola,
Oberto, Wolkowyski and a young Ginobili, he netted 20.
He also made it to the modern EuroLeague during
the 2001-02 season, putting up 16.4 points and 4.4
rebounds per game, and was ALBA’s top scorer and
second most-used player on court, with 31 minutes per
game, behind only Derrick Phelps.
Euro-trophy at 40
At 38 years old, Alexis was thinking about retirement,
but in December of 2002 he had an offer from
PAOK Thessaloniki, and he delivered: 13.4 points and
5.8 boards in the FIBA Europe Champions Cup and 12
points and 5.5 boards in the Greek League. Was that
the end of his career? Of course not! There’s nothing
better than winning a title at 40 and Alexis did just that
with Mitteldeutscher BC, even though he missed the
FIBA Europe Cup final four due to injury. However, with
17.0 points, 4.7 boards plus 1.3 assists, Alexis was a big
factor in Mitteldeutscher reaching the final. And in the
German League, he was the usual Alexis: 18 points plus
6 rebounds per night.
Personally, Wendell Alexis reminded me of Damir
Solan, the great Jugoplastika forward of the 1970s.
Alexis rebounded better and played closer to the rim,
but aside from wearing the same number 12, they had
in common the way they moved, their technique and
the ease with which they scored points, the essence of
basketball.
When he finally retired at 40 years old, Alexis offered
his expertise and knowledge as an assistant in high
schools (Saint Joseph), the NCAA (New Jersey Institute
of Technology) and even the NBA Development League
(Austin Toros). And he has a lot to teach.
Wendell Alexis
101 greats of european basketball
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