After the Boomers' victory over Slovenia, Australia's standout player of the game, and Baynes' former San Antonio Spurs teammate Patty Mills<\/a>, held up a medal and shouted "Baynesy!" <\/p>\n Despite missing out on celebrating with his Boomers teammates, Baynes was not forgotten for his contribution.<\/p>\n OLYMPICS LIVE BLOG: DAY 16 UPDATES, NEWS<\/strong><\/em><\/a> |<\/strong><\/em> TOKYO GAMES CENTRE: SCHEDULE, RESULTS, MEDAL TALLY<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n "We've got his medal," Joe Ingles said after the win about Mills' gesture.<\/p>\n "Obviously he couldn't be here as of right now.<\/p>\n "[He's] another guy who has been a huge part of this for a long time; another close friend of ours who has been part of it.<\/p>\n "[It's] Unfortunate that he couldn't be here with his injury but again, he has been as big a part of this as we have as well. We love Bangers and hopefully he's nice and healthy soon and will get on a flight with these guys."<\/p>\n While celebrating their bronze medal triumph in the locker room, the Boomers had Baynes on a video call from his hospital bed to join them virtually.<\/p>\n According to The Athletic, Baynes received devastating news in hospital, with nerve damage in his neck possibly set to keep him sidelined for the entirety of the 2021\/22 NBA season.<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1424019317843275784<\/a><\/p>\n After being waived by the Toronto Raptors ahead of playing his second and last year of his contract with the team, Baynes' NBA future is now uncertain.<\/p>\n When he was ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics following the Italy match, Baynes said he was "really disappointed" he couldn't play out the tournament in Tokyo.<\/p>\n "I along with the rest of the team have been working so hard in our quest for an historic Olympic medal and I am gutted that I can't complete the journey with the boys, but I have every confidence that they will get the job done," he said in a statement at the time.<\/a><\/p>\n After spending the early years of his basketball career in Europe, the 34-year-old managed to carve out a successful career in the NBA since 2013. Baynes won an NBA Championship in 2014 with Mills at the San Antonio Spurs, and since 2015 he's had stints with the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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