WSU’s Aron Baynes recovers from injury to resume basketball career in Australia
One year after suffering a devastating injury, Aron Baynes has
recovered and returned home to resume his basketball career.
“I’m excited every day – excited to be out there, running
around,” Baynes said Thursday during an introductory news conference in
Brisbane. “Over the last few years, with the COVID stoppages and myself going
through an injury, I know my happy place is being on the basketball court.”
Baynes sustained a career-threatening spinal cord injury while
playing for Team Australia at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo. He fell during
warmups before a game against Nigeria. Three days later, in the middle of a
game against Italy, he took a hard fall in the locker room and was later found
unconscious, according to ESPN.
Thus began a grueling rehabilitation process. Baynes couldn’t
walk for two months, per ESPN, but soldiered on and eventually made a
remarkable bounce-back, returning to the court earlier this year for limited
basketball activities. A three-time Olympian and longtime NBA journeyman,
Baynes reportedly worked out for a handful of NBA teams this summer before
agreeing to a two-year deal with Brisbane – the capital city of Baynes’ home
state of Queensland.
“I’m trying to build the program here and I’m looking forward to
what we can do for basketball here in Queensland,” he said. “It’s the state I
grew up in. Basketball’s been great to me. Trying to give back on and off the
court is a big part of why I wanted to be here.
“My family’s in Brisbane. So, trying to build the community that
my family is a part of is definitely something that’s big for me.”
His contract includes an international player buyout clause,
which allows Baynes to return to the NBA should he receive an offer.
He played in the NBA for nine consecutive seasons before his
injury, beginning his career in San Antonio in 2012. He held down a role for
the Spurs for three seasons – helping the team to an NBA title in 2014 – before
short stints with Detroit, Boston, Phoenix and Toronto. Baynes has appeared in
522 NBA games and his career averages stand at 6 points (on 49% shooting), 4.6
rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game.
“My ultimate goal is to get back to the NBA,” he said Friday on
a Brisbane radio show. “It’s kinda one of those things that (NBA teams) need me
to show them what I can do and still do it at the same level. I need to go out
there and compete and play five-on-five. The opportunity to do it at home
around my kids and to be with my family during the nights, and to go pick them
up from school, that was pretty much the icing on the cake. You can’t ask for a
much better situation than that. I’m happy we were able to work something out
with the Bullets.”
Brisbane general manager Sam Mackinnon, quoted in a news
release, called Baynes a “game-changer in the NBL.” It wasn’t long ago that
Baynes was a key contributor in the NBA. In fact, he’s less than three years
removed from his finest NBA performance – he poured in 37 points and drained
nine 3-pointers for the Suns in one 2020 outing. Baynes and former NBA MVP
James Harden are the only players in league history to record 35-plus points,
15-plus rebounds and nine or more 3s in one game.
“I’m just going out and doing what I’m known to do, how I play
basketball – that’s what got me into the NBA to begin with,” Baynes said
Thursday. “It’s about going out there and playing the right way every time I
hit the floor and showing that I still can do what I was able to do before.”
Baynes went unselected in the 2009 NBA draft and spent a few
seasons as an international pro after a distinguished career at WSU. The
6-foot-10 center tallied more than 1,000 points across four seasons from
2005-09, starting 86 college games and finishing his WSU career with per-game
averages of 8.7 points (on 54.6% shooting), 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. The
Cougs made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in his final two seasons.
Baynes will make his official comeback to pro competition when
Brisbane opens its season Oct. 1.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/31/washington-states-aron-baynes-recovers-from-injury/
