Baynes Excited by Aussie Basketball Talent

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

The Brisbane Bullets’ acquisition of NBA and Boomers big man Aron Baynes could quite possibly go down as one of the biggest free agency coups in recent NBL history.

Baynes will make his return to competitive play with the Bullets after overcoming the horrific back injury he suffered during the Tokyo Olympics, and he's hoping to use the quality of the NBL as a springboard for one final crack at the NBA. If his recent highly-publicised Summer League workout is anything to go by - he isn't far off it.

>> Revealed: Baynes' Secret Workout

A return to the big dance isn't the only goal the veteran has come to home shores with though. 

“I see the potential for basketball here in Queensland. The number of young guys that compete and make it to the NBA, I think there’s guys from Queensland that are right there on that cusp of taking the step over there in the next couple of years,” Baynes told SEN.

“[I want to] build on that foundation here, and what better way than to partner with the professional team in Brisbane and help them on and off the court. I see that as a really big goal for myself, and it’s not a short-term thing.

“I’ve always seen myself as being able to give back to basketball because it’s been so good to me, so being able to build basketball here in South-East Queensland in particular, let alone Australia, [I’m happy] to get back and try and build the brand of basketball.

“I’m out here because basketball’s been so good to me and I just want to pass it on and share it with as many as I can.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The road has brought me back to home soil ?? <a href="https://t.co/r76s7kyPal">pic.twitter.com/r76s7kyPal</a></p>&mdash; Aron Baynes (@aronbaynes) <a href="https://twitter.com/aronbaynes/status/1554649660144472065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Whether it be through his goal of giving back to basketball in Australia, returning to the NBA, or making the right decisions for his family, Baynes looks to be a seriously goal-driven individual.

While his fight to return to the court over the course of his recovery has been well-documented, basketball was the furthest thing from Baynes' mind when he realised just how serious his injury was.

“My first goal when I was in hospital when I couldn’t move the left side of my body is I wanted to be able to hug my family,” he said.

“As soon as I got to the point where they didn’t have to hug me and I was able to hug them I was like ‘what’s the next goal’. My driving force since that point has been to make it back to the NBA.

“There’s a lot of players now who have made their mark in the NBA who started here in the NBL. For me it’s good because I get to come out here and play against that calibre of player.

“I’m excited to get out there and keep running around for a purpose. I’ve been running around for a couple of months but to actually have a purpose behind it now, I’m looking forward to it.”