Aron Baynes is a professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics who although started playing in his late teen years, has been able to keep his track as one of the NBA’s best players and earning a scholarship to the AIS.
Currently playing power forward/center, Australian-born Baynes made his breakthrough in the basketball court in 2013 with the San Antonio Spurs and joined the team’s NBA Championship team in 2014, he also joined the Detroit Pistons in 2015.
Aron Baynes Bio and Educational Background
Born on December 9, 1986, in the city of Gisborne, New Zealand, Baynes had his higher education at the Mareeba State High School after his family moved to the city of Mareeba, Queensland in 1989. But at the age of 15, he began playing basketball through the help of his older brother Callum who introduced him to the game. Prior to that period, he was known for playing rugby league in Far North Queensland but gradually, as he grew much interested in basketball, he decided to pursue a career in the game and just after graduating from high school, he joined the Australian Institute of Sport where he gained a college scholarship to play for Washington State University in 2006
Aron’s career as a professional basketball player started in 2009 when he signed a two-year contract with the Rytas, a Vilnius-based Lithuanian professional basketball club, and in July the same year, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers Summer League team ahead of the 2009–10 season. His contract with the Lietuvos Rytas was not renewed, hence he moved to the EWE Baskets Oldenburg of the German Basketball Bundesliga after signing a two-year deal with the club, and between 2010 and 2011, he averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Aron kept on with an unrenewable contract with several other basketball teams such as the Ikaros Kallitheas of the Greek Basket League and Union Olimpija of the Slovenian Basketball League before deciding to pursue an NBA contract. His first NBA contract was with the American Professional basketball team, San Antonio Spurs. His next was between 2012–13 seasons where he was assigned multiple times to the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. However, his first NBA start was in Game 4 of the Spurs’ first-round playoff match-up against the Los Angeles-based professional basketball team, the Lakers. He was tasked with defending the famous basketballer, Dwight David Howard. By 2014, he was already among the few Australian basketball players who have successfully won an NBA Championship. The same year, he scored what was then regarded as a career-high 16 points while starting in place of Tim Duncan in a game his team lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
Aron Baynes Boston Celtics Career
The baller joined the Boston Celtics on 12 July 2015 after signing a one-year deal with the professional team. The deal worth $4.3 million brought to an end his career with the Detroit Pistons where he scored 21 points against the Brooklyn Nets and 20 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He signed with the Celtics as a free agent the same day his co-player in Detroit, Marcus Morris, was traded for Avery Bradley.
Aron joined the Celtics at the time the club had a major need at the center after its two key players, Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Zeller left. The Celtics’ regular-season finale on April 11, 2018, was quite remarkable as Aron had his career-best 26 points and 14 rebounds in a 110–97 win over the Brooklyn Nets. He is currently regarded as one of the Boston Celtics’ big men.
Aron Baynes Salary and Net Worth
Aron is believed to have an estimated net worth of $5,000,000 with a base salary of $4,328,000 and a contract value of about $4,328,000. Following his one-year contract with the Boston Celtics, Aron receives about $4.32 million which is expected to increase in the next seasons. He has also won several awards, including the FIBA World Championship of 2010, Greek League Centre of the Year, 2012, and the PAC-10 All-Academic First Team of 2007.
Aron Baynes Wife, Family
Baynes is married to his beautiful girlfriend, Rachel Adekponya. Rachel is also an Australian and a younger sister to Matthew Adekponya, the professional basketball player playing guard for Grand Rapids Drive. He was undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft, making him an unrestricted free agent. The couple currently has a son whom they named Mason. They moved to Boston after Aron signed a deal with the Boston Celtics.
