Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton didn’t return in the second half of Friday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to middle back spasms.
After the Lakers’ win, head coach JJ Redick revealed that Ayton was available to return but he stayed away from his to be cautious with Jaxson Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt playing well in his absence.
“He just had some middle back spasms. He was available in the fourth quarter when he came back out. He had a heat pack on, but I just felt that it wasn’t worth it given that group with Jaxson and Vando at the five, rotating between them in the second half, they were really good. Just didn’t want to risk it with Ayton,” Redick said.
Ayton later said that he felt something in his back during shootaround and tried to play through it, but he aggravated it on a dunk attempt and did not take the floor with his teammates to begin the second half with Hayes getting the place in his start. In 17 first half minutes, Ayton had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
The Lakers are already severely shorthanded in the front court with LeBron James, Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero all out. If Ayton is forced to miss any time then others would need to step up to take the place of the starting center as he had been rock solid to start the season.
He sounded optimistic that would not be the case, however, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
Deandre Ayton said he was dealing with tightness in his back at shootaround but worked to get it loose by gametime. He said he tweaked it on an alley-oop play in the first half. Ayton said he expects to be available Sunday vs. Miami.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 1, 2025
The Lakers will next take the court on Sunday night back home against the Miami Heat, which is the first night of a back-to-back with them then traveling to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. It would be unfortunate to be without Ayton for one or both of those contests, but his status will continue to be worth monitoring leading up to Sunday night as back injuries can be tricky.
JJ Redick applauds Deandre Ayton for patience
Deandre Ayton has made the most of his limited touches with the Lakers this season and head coach JJ Redick recently applauded him for his patience and efficiency on the offensive end.
“Yeah, DA was great,” Redick said after a recent win. “I thought his patience for the game was really good by that. Luka getting it going early, being the beneficiary of DA screening at times. Yet at halftime, I thought DA was playing really well. You look up, he’s got three shots. And really just kind of let the offense come to him throughout that second half. And then defensively, he was really good as well.”
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