Key Takeaways
- Triple Olympian, Tokyo bronze medallist, and NBA champion Aron Baynes has announced his retirement from professional basketball.
- He is one of the only three Australian men to have won both an NBA championship and an Olympic medal.
- His agent, Daniel Moldovan, says that Aron embodies everything that they preach to young athletes about professionalism.
Triple Olympian, Tokyo bronze medallist, and NBA champion Aron Baynes has announced his retirement from professional basketball.
His agent, Daniel Moldovan, announced his retirement on October 16, 2024.
Congratulations Bangers on an amazing career. One of the best to pull on a Boomers jersey. Thanks for welcoming me into the culture roomie @aronbaynes https://t.co/oOPSrp7kCQ
— Ryan Broekhoff (@RBroekhoff45) October 16, 2024
Aron Baynes, born December 9, 1986, is a professional basketball player with an incredible 15-year career that has spanned Europe, the NBA, and, of course, Australia.
He represented Australia at six Major International Tournaments and is one of only three Australian men to have won both an NBA championship and an Olympic medal, as the Boomer’s Bronze medal-winning Tokyo Games Campaign.
He initially grew up playing Rugby until his brother introduced him to basketball at 15. He then decided to focus on pursuing a career in basketball.
His professional career started when he signed a two-year deal with Lietuvos Rytas of the Lithuanian Basketball League in 2009 eventually parting ways following the 2009-10 season.
Subsequently, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team in the same year.
He was still active with the EWE Baskets Oldenburg of the German Basketball Bundesliga, Ikaros Kallitheas of the Greek Basket League, and Union Olimpija of the Slovenian Basketball League until he signed with the San Antonio Spurs on January 23, 2013.
In his first season as an NBA player with the Spurs’ he won the 2013-14 championship alongside countryman Patty Mills.
He also played with the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, and Phoenix Suns and made his last appearance in the league with the Toronto Raptors in 2021.
According to ESPN,
“A serious spinal cord injury threatened Baynes’ career during the Tokyo Games, with the center initially unable to walk after being discovered on the ground in the team’s change-room….. After months in hospital, he made an inspirational return to the court with the Bullets from 2022 but had his minutes curtailed in the final year of his contract.”
“Baynes previously held the record for most three-pointers in an NBA game by a center, but his nine triples for Phoenix against Portland in 2020 was bested by Karl-Anthony Towns (10) last season.”
Vis Yahoo Sports Australia
Although the injury seemed to threaten his basketball career, this man was not one to give up his fight.
In an interview with ESPN, he said,
“I’m not labeling anything, My body feels good. I love playing the game. It’s just, right now, I’m focused on my family and being there with my kids. Just being dad right now. Just enjoying not having to be anywhere at any particular time, apart from school drop off and school pickup.”
“Right now, nothing labeled; just, body feels really good, though, I’m moving well. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Probably the proudest agent in the world…… cause this guy is the best Center in the FIBA World Cup 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/Lwyo8jWnTV
— Daniel Moldovan (@AgentMoldovan) September 9, 2019
As reported by Yahoo Sports Australia, agent Daniel Moldovan paid tribute to Baynes on Instagram, saying,
“You embody everything that we preach to young athletes about professionalism, dedication, and playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not on the back.”
His agent seems very proud to be Aron’s agent and has supported him in many aspects of life and the game.
He praises Aron as “the Best Centre in the world.“
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Baynes played for the Australian National Team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China.
- Baynes was also part of the national team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but a spinal cord injury ruled him out for the second half of the tournament as the Boomers went on to win the bronze medal.
- Toronto Raptors signed Baynes to a multi-year contract on 25 November 2020, but was waived by them on August 4, 2021.
