Baynes Opens Up on Mental Health Battles

Friday, November 11, 2022

Brisbane Bullets star Aron Baynes has opened up on the mental health demons he has battled over the past 18 months.

Baynes has endured a long road to recovery since a horror fall at the Tokyo Olympics left him with a career threatening spinal cord injury.

Not only was the physical recovery daunting, but Baynes has revealed to the NBL23: UNRIVALLED documentary the mental toll was just as damaging.

“I can tell you right now that it was terrible,” Baynes said.

“I was in a bad place with where I was. It was really tough for a number of other reasons mentally.

“We’d gone through some ups and down and highs and lows and it is still a challenge every single day.

“But it’s something that we know if we can get through that, we can get through anything else.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UNRIVALLED ACCESS ??<br><br>Get an inside look at the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a>' and <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisbaneBullets</a>' slow starts to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> in Episode 2 of the UNRIVALLED Documentary series ??<br><br>Watch on Friday at 5pm AEDT on ESPN via Kayo and Foxtel & 10play ? <a href="https://t.co/4i6z5G2CFG">pic.twitter.com/4i6z5G2CFG</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1590201560302522369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Baynes has bounced back strongly and has played a vital role for the Bullets in their recent three-game win streak.

The 35-year-old added the toughest part of his road back was not being able to see his family for a period of time due to COVID restrictions.

“I didn’t think it was that bad and I thought everything was good, but laying in hospital and I knew all I wanted was that I had to see my family,” he said.

“I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t know that I’d ever get that low in my life, but I went to the point where I see what the most important thing in my life is (and that’s family).”

Episode two of NBL23: UNRIVALLED airs on ESPN, Kayo and 10 Play at 5pm AEDT on Friday.