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Deandre Ayton and his time with the Los Angeles Lakers hasn’t been smooth from the start, but it now looks like the big man is turning a corner at exactly the right time.
After earlier frustrations about his offensive role, Ayton has shifted his mindset, and it’s paying off. With the Lakers building momentum, the former No. one overall pick is leaning fully into the dirty work that’s fueling winning basketball.
Ayton admitted that a period of self-reflection changed everything.
“That’s a fact. That is a true fact,” he told The Athletic’s Dan Woike. “But me, I scratched that, I took that out. I said … when it comes to scoring, we don’t need that. We need you to put that energy what you have for offense and into defense.
“I just started looking in the mirror and said ‘Yo bro, … you’re not that guy. You don’t need to be on this team doing that at all. This team, you came here to be the effort guy and close out possessions, rebound. Run the damn floor hard as hell, make bigs work, make superstars work.
“And I’m having fun with it, I’m not gonna lie.”
That shift has coincided with a strong run for the Lakers, with Ayton impacting games through rebounding, rim protection and energy, areas that don’t always show up in the box score but are critical in high-level games.
He also acknowledged that the rest of the roster had already reached that level of urgency, and that he’s now catching up as the playoffs approach.
“JJ’s been instilling to us that this is a playoff atmosphere, and we fighting for a playoff position,” Ayton said. “You can tell LeBron’s been locked in, Luka — everybody’s been completely locked in, and I’m just tired of being the odd man out. I think I told the media the other day, it’s just me finally catching up.
“Team’s been there; it’s just been me.”
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