Baptiste was selected by the Golden State Warriors as an early entrant in the 1971 NBA draft but did not make the team due to a heroin addiction.

[3] He developed an addiction to heroin and claimed that he played while high his entire junior season, which caused him to lose weight.

[1] A decline in his playing performance heightened the suspicions of head coach Eddie Sutton but physicals were unsuccessful in finding anything.

[1] Baptiste's interest in his college classes declined and he was assisted with his grades by Creighton until he dropped out of university two weeks after his junior season ended.

[3][8] He believed that he could make a return to the National Basketball Association (NBA) despite his history of drug-related arrests and a conviction for arson.