The Los Angeles Lakers have a new starting center in the form of former No. 1 overall draft pick Deandre Ayton. The former Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers big man signed with L.A. after being bought out of the final year of his deal in Portland, joining the Lakers on a prove-it two-year deal with a player option on the second season.
Being the starting big man for the Los Angeles Lakers joins a list flooded with Hall of Famers and all-time greats, including Wilt Chamberalin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Paul Gasol, Anthony Davis and Shaquille O’Neal. And while Ayton isn’t under any pressure to join that list, he may have an inside track on what it’s like to be a great Lakers center.
In his introductory press conference with the Lakers, Ayton spoke about his relationship with Shaq and his Lakers fandom during that era.
“Truly. It’s the L.A. Lakers. I’ve been watching them all the time when I was younger as well,” Ayton said of the team’s history when it comes to great centers. “And just knowing the greats. One of the greats I do know is Shaquille O’Neal growing up. I had a good relationship with him.
“As a child growing up playing for EYBL teams, me and his son, Shareef O’Neal, and I’ve created that relationship with him. And playing in the playoffs and getting to talk to him, it’s like ‘Big Unc.’ And we know how he had my back when I was winning as well. And just having that here is pretty cool.”
There is nothing quite like the legacy of helping the Lakers win a championship. The number of all-time greats who have won titles in L.A. is astounding, and doing so helps to cement that. Ayton has possibly spoken with Shaq about that while at EYBL tournaments with Shareef.
And now, he has the opportunity to no only rehab his value across the league, but play for that same franchise that Shaq won three of his four titles with and doing so playing the same position, also alongside an elite combo guard.
Deandre Ayton using criticism as fuel
While Deandre Ayton gives the Lakers the starting center they had been looking for, the signing naturally came with a lot of criticism. The former No. 1 overall pick looked to be on an All-Star trajectory with the Suns, but questions about his motor and attitude led to him being traded to the Trail Blazers, where he mostly has lived in irrelevancy over the last two seasons.
There’s nothing irrelevant about playing for the Lakers though and now that he is back in a winning environment, Ayton is looking forward to proving the doubters wrong.
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