Deandre Ayton knows his role on the court in real life. But when the video game controller is in his hands, the Los Angeles Lakers’ new center is living out a very different dream.
Speaking at Los Angeles Lakers media day, Ayton revealed his go-to move in NBA 2K has nothing to do with screens or dunks. Instead, he prefers to run the show.
“I’m playing as a point guard in NBA 2K. You get tired of setting screens and rollin.’ I wanna have an imagination of shooting the 3 ball too.”
The lighthearted comment is rooted in a serious truth: Deandre Ayton’s outside shot has never been a reliable part of his arsenal. For his career, the 7-footer has shot just 28-for-122 from deep, a 23.0% clip.
Last season, he launched more threes than in any year of his career, going 6-for-32 (18.8%). His best shooting stretch came in 2021-22, when he managed 7-for-19 for a respectable 36.8%, but those attempts were rare and carefully chosen.
In NBA 2K, however, the restrictions don’t apply. With a three-point rating of just 63, Ayton’s virtual jumper is still considered below-average, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting himself in the role of a playmaking guard and letting it fly from distance.
It’s not hard to see why Lakers fans might cringe if Ayton ever brought that same approach to real games. With LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves already orchestrating the offense, and with Rui Hachimura spacing the floor, the Lakers aren’t counting on their new center to suddenly turn into a three-point weapon.
Still, Deandre Ayton has made it clear this Lakers chapter is different for him. After stints in Phoenix and Portland, he’s called Los Angeles “somewhere it counts,” admitting he feels like a “wounded animal” ready to prove himself on the league’s biggest stage.
That means embracing the grind, anchoring the defense, and being a force inside, not pretending to be Stephen Curry.
But in the safe space of NBA 2K, Deandre Ayton allows himself to explore what it feels like to be the guy pulling up from 30 feet.
For the Lakers’ sake, though, fans hope Ayton keeps that imagination on the screen and sticks to what he does best on the floor.
