Baynes was having a strong showing so far in the game, with 14 points in 14 minutes along with two three pointers, a specialty of his game that had emerged in the last couple of seasons. On the bench and about to head back in the game, he left the court temporarily to go the bathroom before getting back into the action.
But as the fourth quarter started, Baynes was nowhere to be seen on the Aussie bench and a staffer went off looking for him in the corridors of Saitama Arena. He found him, but in a terrible state - sprawled on the floor of a locker room near the bathroom and bloody from two deep cuts in his arm.
As the Boomers went on to win by three points, Baynes was being treated in the locker room by the team doctor and paramedics, groggy and with no memory of how he had ended up there with his injuries, only that he had run around a corner to the bathrooms before blacking out.
No one could identify where his cuts had come from, pointing to two towel hooks on the wall as a possibility, or that Baynes had slipped and hit his head on the ground as his teammates returned on the high of a win with no knowledge of what had gone on with their fellow player.
"We came into the locker room just wondering where Baynesie was at," Guard Matthew Dellavedova recalled.
"He was in a bad way. At first it was like, 'Can he play in the rest of the tournament?' And then we were like, 'Is he going to be OK?'"
And the situation only got worse for Baynes, as he attempted to get up off the stretcher he had been placed on only to fall to the ground again, unable to walk as a terrible reality set in for himself and everyone around him. He was taken to hospital in Japan where he would end up spending multiple days in agonising pain and anguish as the reality of what had occurred set in.
After going through multiple scans at the hospital, an MRI showed that he had internal bleeding which was putting pressure on his spinal cord, as doctors diagnosed that he would require surgery to relieve it.
"The loneliest time in my life was laying in that hospital, going in and out of consciousness, going over my life plan and my goals and just crying," Baynes told ESPN's Brian Windhorst in his first interview since the incident.
"My uncle Don had an accident 10 years ago. He's a quadriplegic.
"My family's had first-hand experience with this going down. I was so scared."
Three days before the incident prior to the Boomers' first matchup against Nigeria, the 6 foot 10 Baynes went up for a dunk in warmups and his hands slipped off the rim, causing him a nasty fall on his head and neck. He was able to play out the first half but sat out the second to be safe, revealing it left him rattled and could point to the later problems he experienced.
"We don't really know what happened," Baynes said.
The neurologists can't be sure of that exact cause. But I was in a lot of pain after that fall.
"I was pretty sore and needed painkillers to play."
Having experienced a terrible few days and now stuck in hospital with no visitors allowed due to the pandemic and a communication barrier with Japanese nurses, Baynes was unable to grasp the seriousness of his situation as all he wanted was to rejoin the Olympic campaign.
"I was still hoping to play in the next game," Baynes said.
"The Japanese [doctors] thought I was crazy. Looking back, I can't believe what was happening."
While he was lying in a hospital bed, the Boomers made history across town after beating Slovenia and securing a Bronze medal. Following surgery, Baynes was in better spirits and was able to see a team doctor and athletic trainer for 15 minutes day. Fortunately, his medal found its way to him as Dellavedova and fellow Boomer Nathan Sobey were able to pull off posing as Japanese doctors to bring their friend his well-earned bronze.
Unable to get much advice from the Japanese doctors, Baynes' people were able to contact an Australian neurosurgeon who was experienced in his condition, and he provided a roadmap for enough recovery to at least travel home to Brisbane. He advised Baynes that if he could progress to a point where he could stand unassisted, he could board a flight home.
After 11 days of agonising physical therapy which Baynes said was, "like a combination of burning, fire, knives," he was able to stand and started participating in motor skills activities to reteach basic bodily functions.
But it was all worth it as he finally returned to Brisbane where more physical therapy awaited him, but he was able to see his wife and three children during the process which only increased his motivation to recover.
After two months, Baynes was able to run again, and has slowly returned to just picking up a basketball and putting up a few shots as a reward for all the intense hard work he has had to endure.
And it hasn't stopped there. With a new drive to get back to his best, Baynes has been participating in an aggressive rehabilitation campaign every day in a bid to return to the NBA next season with just a small window to do so at 35 years old.
"He has no off switch, he wants to do it eight hours a day," Baynes' agent Daniel Moldovan said.
"We try to back him off, but it's not in his nature."
Watching games from the league every day, the more physical style of play and officiating this season has inspired Baynes to find a way to return as it suits his game.
"It looks so much more fun now," he said.
"That's how I grew up playing and I really want to get back to it.
"I've got the want to get there and every single day I expect a lot out of everyone around me.
"I don't know what the path will look like, but I'm going to give it one hell of a crack."
You can read the full article from ESPN's Brian Windhorst here:
