Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton has been in the headlines this week due to comments surrounding his role on the team. Ayton shared some interesting comments, referencing that he is not like Houston Rockets center Clint Capela, who has historically had a limited role as a rebounding lob threat.
However, that was essentially the role Ayton signed up for after receiving a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers and signing with the Lakers this past offseason. With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James taking a lion’s share of shots offensively, L.A.’s role players have to find other ways to be impactful.
When Ayton sets solid screens, slips screens, seals hard, his teammates put him in position to be rewarded. But, he does not do that all the time and Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal was critical of his play after making those comments, via NBA on ESPN:
“You know Kenny [Smith] talks about this all the time. If you play hard, you can get things done. He’s not Clint Capela because Clint Capela plays hard every game. Clint Capela is a role player, Deandre Ayton is a role player. You’re not going to be on the same team with LeBron and Luka and think you’re going to get shots. However though, all these plays right here are for you. If you just do your job, pick, rebound and run the court, you can get easy buckets. I wish my career was this easy because I played with guys that really used to get me the ball, Penny Hardaway, D-Wade, Scott Skiles. But listen, if you just shut the hell up and do your job and do it all the time and do it consistently, it wouldn’t be a problem. My problem with him is he doesn’t play hard all the time, he don’t play consistent all the time. Six to seven drop offs, that’s 12 points. Run the court a couple of times when your guy shoots a 3, run past him, that’s another six points. There goes 18 points right there. I don’t want to hear no excuse from him, he don’t play hard all the time. He’s the key for them to get to that next level.”
This was the worry about bringing in Ayton as he had similar well-documented issues in Portland and dating back to his time with the Phoenix Suns. The former No. 1 overall pick said all the right things leading up to this year, but now that things have not gone his way as of late, cracks are showing.
O’Neal brings up all valid points and hopefully, Ayton sees what a multi-time champion is saying about him and takes it to heart. There needs to be sacrifice from every player if they want to win compete for title, getting full buy-in for the betterment of the team.
Austin Reaves: Deandre Ayton is ‘X factor’ for Lakers
Since returning from the All-Star break, it has been a bumpy ride for the Lakers. After disappointing losses to the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns, L.A. needs to get back on track.
A key to their strong start this year was Deandre Ayton and he has faltered as the regular season as progressed. Austin Reaves believes Ayton is the team’s X factor and they need to find a way to re-establish their early-season winning habits.
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