Triple Olympian, Tokyo bronze medallist and NBA champion Aron Baynes has announced his retirement from professional basketball.
The 37-year-old carved out a brilliant career for his country, in the US, throughout Europe and domestically with his towering presence in the paint, consistency at both ends and ability to influence a game.
He is one of only three male Australian basketballers to have won both an Olympic medal and NBA title, sharing the honour with Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills.
Born in New Zealand, Bayes grew up in far north Queensland playing rugby before pursuing basketball and later fulfilling a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in 2004.
He would go on to college at Washington State University where he helped lead the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Appearances in 2007 and 2008.
Baynes would turn pro and gain experience and grow his skillset in Europe, first in Lithuania then Germany, Greece and Slovenia.
He earned his first NBA opportunity with the San Antonio Spurs in 2013 and twelve months later was an NBA champion.
Amid a nine-season, 576-game NBA career, Baynes would go on to play for the Detroit Pistons (2015-2017) Boston Celtics (2017-2019), Phoenix Suns (2019-2020) and Toronto Raptors (2020-2021).
Most recently, Baynes suited up the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL where he played 47 games between 2022 and 2024.
Some of the best basketball of Baynes career came when he donned the green and gold of his beloved Australian Boomers, making his debut in 2009.
A long-time servant of the national program, he competed on sport’s biggest stage, the Olympic Games in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
The highest of highs came three years ago when Baynes was part of the Boomers team that made history by winning the men program’s first ever Olympic medal in Tokyo.
Baynes also represented the Boomers at three FIBA World Cup campaigns in 2010, 2014 and 2019.
