The short-handed Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly beat the Sacramento Kings 127-120 at Golden 1 Center on Sunday. With LeBron James and Luka Doncic out, the Lakers needed their role players to step up, and Deandre Ayton certainly did that. Ayton had his best game as a Laker against the Kings and revealed postgame that his teammates are using an interesting tactic to motivate him.
“They all have their own little thing to get my head all mixed up,” Ayton said, via Dave McMenamin. “… [Austin Reaves] is my guy. Luka [Doncic] is my guy, but my wings and my forwards? Yeah, they be trying to get me ticked off before these games just to get me rolling.
“And I’m starting to see it’s a trend because I don’t get a break until we on the court,” Ayton continued. “Then it’s all seriousness. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is a thing y’all want to do. Y’all want to get me on edge. Y’all want me fired up.’ I like it… I haven’t had that in a while, where dudes really cared.”
Ayton, who had 22 points (10-17 FG), 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block against the Kings, appreciates how his new teammates have treated him since he arrived.
“Like I said, walking in here, they gave me open arms,” Ayton stated. “And to see head honchos like [LeBron James], AR, Luka just have me, not leave me out. They always messing with me and just talking to me, and talking basketball. Not even gotta be always basketball, it’s just trolling. They love my reactions over there. I be caught off guard with some of them.
“But I love it, trust me,” Ayton added. “It’s just making me play harder when it counts now.”
Well, that’s quite a tactic being employed to get Ayton to play harder. Perhaps the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers should have tried this during the big man’s stints with them.
Ayton’s motor has always been the biggest question when it comes to him. The 27-year-old is talented but hasn’t always played with the kind of energy that you’d want him to.
Ayton, the first pick of the 2018 NBA Draft, showed just why he was viewed as an incredibly frustrating player during his time with the Suns and Trail Blazers in his Lakers debut. He had just 10 points and six rebounds against the Golden State Warriors, and Shaquille O’Neal was very critical of his performance. It was simply not good enough.
Alarm bells were starting to ring already, but Ayton managed to ease concerns a bit by coming up big against the Kings when the Lakers desperately needed him to. He’s not going to have too many of these 20-point games when everyone is healthy, but you’d want to see him rebound this well on a consistent basis. If he plays solid defense with that, too, the Lakers will be more than happy.
With this victory over the Kings, the Lakers have improved to 2-1 on the season. They’ll now look to make it three wins in a row when they take on the Trail Blazers, Ayton’s former team, at Crypto.com Arena on Monday at 10:30 PM ET.
