BIO: Bairstow was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia. He attended Runcorn State High School before graduating from Anglican Church Grammar School in 2008. His parents are Ian and Penny Bairstow, a veterinarian and a school teacher, who both also coach youth basketball in Australia.

Bairstow is the third of seven children, with four brothers (Kieran, Jarred, Daniel, and Sean) and two sisters (Melissa and Stephanie).

He was also on the Queensland team that won the 2009 Under 20 Australian national championship, and he played on the Australian Under 19 team that won the 2009 FIBA Oceania title in Saipan. Bairstow received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2009. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

FAMILY: Cam’s brother, Jarred Bairstow also played 113 games in the NBL. Also, his sister Steph attended Utah State before forging a playing career in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Cam Bairstow made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 25 years of age. He scored 15 points in his first game.

During the 2016/17 season, Cam Bairstow averaged 12.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1 assist as the Brisbane Bullets finished in eighth place with a 10-18 record.

2018/19
After finishing last in the previous season, Brisbane said farewell to Adam Gibson (to South East Melbourne), Shaun Bruce (to Sydney), and Anthony Petrie (retired). They retooled their roster by adding Boomers sharpshooter Cameron Gliddon (via Cairns), Jason Cadee (via Sydney), Matt Hodgson (via Adelaide), Tom Jervis (via Perth), and Mika Vukona (via New Zealand). Cam Bairstow returned to the team after recovering from a knee reconstruction, and Brisbane signed Makoto Hiejima as the first Japanese player under the NBL’s Asian Player rule. They also brought in NBA veteran Alonzo Gee (via Puerto Rico) as an import.

These key signings were expected to bolster the Bullets as they faced a challenging schedule, with 12 of their first 15 games against last season’s top-four teams.

However, the season got off to a rocky start, with Brisbane forced to release Alonzo Gee (7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) after four games due to personal reasons. Import Stephen Holt (7.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) followed suit, leaving to pursue opportunities in Europe after expressing concern over his playing time. Brisbane replaced them with Lamar Patterson (via China) and Jeremy Kendle (6.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) to fill the gaps.

Brisbane’s season was marked by inconsistency. By January, the team sat at a 9-9 record, including a 29-point loss to Cairns. The team made additional moves, signing Nnanna Egwu (0 points, 2.3 rebounds) as an injury replacement for three games and extending Kendle’s contract for the remainder of the season. Japanese guard Hiejima was replaced by import AJ Davis (4.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists) to further strengthen the squad.

Cam Bairstow (11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) delivered a solid season for the Bullets, primarily as a starter. Some of his best performances included a dominant 23 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block against Cairns (25 Jan 2019), 22 points and 4 rebounds against New Zealand (1 Feb 2019), and 20 points and 7 rebounds against Sydney (12 Jan 2019).

In addition to Bairstow’s contributions, Brisbane was led by Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year Reuben Te Rangi (9.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), Cameron Gliddon (13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), and Lamar Patterson (17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals), who was named to the All-NBL First Team.

Brisbane finished the regular season tied with Adelaide at 14-14, but due to a higher points percentage, they secured the fourth spot and advanced to the playoffs.

In the semi-finals against Perth, the Bullets were outclassed in Game 1 (89-59), with Terrico White (24 points) and Bryce Cotton (19 points, 10 assists) leading the Wildcats. Bairstow added 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist, while Gliddon was Brisbane’s top scorer with 18 points.

In Game 2 (84-79), despite strong efforts from Lamar Patterson (19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals) and Matthew Hodgson (15 points), Brisbane was eliminated as Perth advanced to the Grand Final. Bairstow contributed 8 points and 4 rebounds in Brisbane’s final game of the season.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
2020/21
In April 2020, the Illawarra Hawks faced a turbulent start to the season, with the club falling into voluntary administration. One month later, creditors voted to liquidate the club, but the NBL stepped in, vowing to keep the team alive. By June, a new ownership group consisting of Dorry Kordahi, Bryan Colangelo, and Michael Proctor was awarded the license, and the team was rebranded as “The Hawks” in an effort to broaden its appeal across New South Wales. Shortly after, Brian Goorjian, Australia’s most successful basketball coach, was named head coach.

The overhaul extended to the roster, with only Sam Froling and Emmett Naar returning from the previous season. The Hawks made significant additions, including NBA talent Deng Adel and Cam Bairstow, who had just returned from a stint in Lithuania, both of whom were part of the Australian Boomers national squad. Justinian Jessup signed a Next Star deal, while imports Tyler Harvey and Justin Simon were brought in to be key offensive and defensive pieces, respectively.

Off-court drama marked the early part of the season, notably with fan outrage over the dropping of “Illawarra” from the team name. The matter received substantial media coverage in Wollongong, overshadowing the Hawks’ strong 4-0 start to the season. However, by early February, after a successful membership drive and increased corporate support, the NBL reinstated the “Illawarra” name ahead of the team’s first home game.

On the court, the Hawks dealt with several challenges, including Bairstow being ruled out for the season after missing nine games with a hip injury, and Daniel Grida tearing his ACL while playing in the state league. Additionally, Deng Adel, who struggled to make an impact (5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2 assists), requested a mid-season release to focus on his NBA chances.

Despite these setbacks, the Hawks won eight of their last 10 games from round 16 onward, securing a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2017. Scoring proved difficult, with the Hawks’ points average dropping from 90.5 over the first 10 games to 81.5 by season’s end—the lowest in the league. Four players averaged in double digits: Tyler Harvey (20 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 steals), Justinian Jessup (13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 steals), Cam Bairstow (11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), and Sam Froling (11.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks). The team struggled with shooting efficiency, finishing with the worst field goal percentage in the league (42.5%) and a free throw percentage of just 69.4%.

Illawarra finished the season in third place (20-16), never falling below fifth. They faced the defending champions Perth Wildcats in the semifinals. The Hawks took Game 1 by two points but fell short in Games 2 and 3, each by eight-point margins, ending their playoff run.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2021/22
Adelaide started the season by adding Mitch McCarron (via Melbourne), Filipino NBA prospect Kai Sotto and Cairns backup guard duo Tad Dufelmeier, and disgruntled Next Star Mojave King, who fled the Taipans due to feeling his lack of playing time was hurting his NBA chances. Imports Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers were signed to round out the core roster, and then, in a surprise move, Adelaide chose to release coach Connor Henry despite a year remaining on his contract. CJ Bruton, who had just missed on the Brisbane Bullets head coaching role to James Duncan and was one of the few coaches available at the time, was signed as his replacement and took over the team only weeks before the opening game. With the team almost completed, Bruton added Hyrum Harris (also via Cairns) and Cam Bairstow, who, after multiple injury-plagued seasons, drew zero offers from other NBL teams. Bruton, having worked closely with Bairstow in Brisbane, convinced the big man to come to Adelaide and try to revitalise his career.

29-year-old Mitch McCarron (7.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.9 steals) was selected as the new 36ers captain and positioned as the club’s franchise player moving forward. The Sixers came away winless from round one, losing to Perth (85–73) and Illawarra (71–81) before rebounding in round two to record wins against Tasmania (83-80) and New Zealand (98–85), this would see them reach sixth place (2-2) on the ladder, the highest ranking for the season and only round where they did not have a losing record.

Adelaide would lose Isaac Humphries (7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds in 17.7 minutes) to a knee injury that ruled him out for the season the following round, with the former NBA big man managing only six games for the season. Without Humphries, a reinvigorated Bairstow (11.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) would deliver the best season of his NBL career before also going down to a late-season ankle injury that would ultimately end his NBL career.

With a month remaining in the season and underwhelming seasons from imports Dusty Hannahs (13.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) and Todd Withers (8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), Adelaide (7-17) had no chance of making the playoffs and managed to close out the season with some kind of success. Adelaide came close to reeling off four consecutive away wins to end the season, only losing a close one to the Phoenix (91-94) and finished the season for the third consecutive year in seventh position (10-18).

Daniel Johnson (16.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) would lead the 36ers in scoring and collect his second consecutive Mark Davis Award as the club’s Most Valuable Player while bright spots for the team included Hyrum Harris (4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), who was voted as the club’s Most Improved Player and Sunday Dech (12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), who became a solid contributor in his second year at the 36ers.

Bairstow averaged 11.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in a season marred by injury (big men Cam Bairstow and Isaac Humphries both missing the majority of the season) and a lack of production from imports Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers. in a season marred by injuries. The Sixers seeing Isaac Humphries play in only six matches (averaging 7.7 points in 17.7 minutes per game) before a knee injury ruled him out for the season in February and Cam Bairstow also missing 10 games due to injuries at the start and end of the 36ers campaign. This combined with the underwhelming seasons from imports Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers saw another 36ers season end in disappointment.

Cam Bairstow played four seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Brisbane Bullets, Illawarra Hawks and Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 74 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.