Aron Baynes Retires From Basketball

Former NBA center Aron Baynes has officially ended his basketball career, agent Daniel Moldovan of Lighthouse Sports announced (via Twitter).

The Australian native spent time with the Spurs, Pistons, Celtics, Suns and Raptors during his nine NBA seasons. He left the league after the 2020/21 season and played the last two years with the Brisbane Bullets of Australia’s National Basketball League.

Baynes, who will turn 38 in December, said last month that he didn’t feel ready to retire and was hoping for another opportunity in the NBL. That hasn’t materialized, so he decided to bow out.

After playing four years in Europe, Baynes signed with San Antonio midway through the 2012/13 season. He spent two more years with the Spurs and was a backup center on their 2014 title team. He signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2015 and moved on to the Celtics two years later. Boston traded him to Phoenix during the 2019 offseason, and he joined Toronto as a free agent in 2020.

Baynes played in 522 career games, averaging 6.0 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16 minutes per night.

Baynes was also a fixture for many years on the Australian national team, competing in numerous international tournaments, including three Olympics. He suffered a spinal cord injury at the Tokyo Games that sidelined him for more than a year.

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