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Deandre Ayton is aware of the pressure on him after joining the Los Angeles Lakers, which was seen clearly in a recent locker room incident. <\/p>\n
Speaking from the heart, Deandre Ayton<\/a> of the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> appeared to understand the pressure on his shoulders upon arriving at the team over the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a recent profile from The Athletic, Dan Woike detailed Ayton\u2019s<\/a> ups and downs emotionally through the first few weeks of his tenure with the Lakers. After revealing that the star was well aware of the spotlight on both the future of his career and with the team after his offseason signing<\/a>, the insider shed light on a recent locker room moment that caught many off guard.<\/p>\n Woike recalled a recent instance in which Ayton took control of the Lakers\u2019 locker room speaker to play his own music, then singing lyrics which appeared to signal recognition of the pressure on him to perform in what could be defined as a career-altering season.<\/p>\n The Lakers locker room is like a stage, and Ayton was in the middle of it, completely in the spotlight pregame Saturday night. The music is blaring, but he\u2019s not happy\u2026 So, Ayton went rogue and did his own thing,\u201d Woike wrote.<\/p>\n In a wide-ranging conversation with The Athletic, Deandre Ayton spewed passion with profanity.<\/p>\n He stared at his reputation. He wrapped his mind around old and new expectations. He shouted in anger. He reflected quietly about being accepted. He raged, retreated and raged again. <\/p>\n \u201c\u2018They said this my last chance,\u2019 he yelled over the part in the song when Bobby Hatfield [from the Righteous Brothers] sings<\/a> \u2018I need your love.\u2019 Later, he played \u2018Lean on Me\u2019 while telling his teammates that he needed every one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ayton was the biggest offseason addition for the Lakers, a much-needed, established center who could help fix the areas of the team that became the ultimate reason for<\/a> their early playoff exit.<\/p>\n Deandre Ayton Responds To Lakers Rumors<\/p>\n Woike further detailed the locker room moment, which he claimed was the second game in a row the center took control of music duties. The insider reported it was just another reflection of Ayton\u2019s understanding of the pressure on himself and his role within the team<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAyton, with Austin Reaves<\/a> and others watching, started to preach to no one in particular,\u201d Woike wrote. \u201cThere was total freedom in his movement, plenty of volume in his voice and no resistance or judgment from anyone sitting in front of his locker. It was a wild energy.\u201d<\/p>\n While Woike\u2019s insights on Ayton\u2019s decisions within the Lakers organization, it wasn\u2019t the only time he openly discussed his feelings on where he is at this point in his career. After a contract buyout<\/a> with the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, many believe that his joining Los Angeles could be the last stop in his NBA journey.<\/p>\n \u201cThey say if this [expletive]\u00a0 don\u2019t work out for me, this is my last year,\u201d Ayton told Woike, referring to the questions surrounding Ayton\u2019s uncertain future<\/a> if he isn\u2019t successful in Los Angeles. \u201cEverybody and they mama have been saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n Rumors of the Lakers potentially looking for another, perhaps more impactful center,<\/a> have been running rampant since Ayton\u2019s arrival to the team was announced. Yet still, Woike reported Ayton understands that, but is now feeling the full support of the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the end of the weaving in and out of emotions, Ayton seemingly landed on the most important truth, the message the Lakers have been trying to get across to him and the one that\u2019s truly landed,\u201d Woike added. \u201c[They] are showing Ayton a lot of love. And he\u2019s giving a lot back, the Lakers needing every bit of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers Fully Supportive<\/p>\n While it is clear Ayton feels the pressure on himself and his new team, it hasn\u2019t clearly been shown in the box score.\u00a0<\/p>\n Playing in all 12 of the Lakers\u2019 games, the former first overall pick<\/a> is averaging 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds on a league-third 69.2% shooting. The team is 6-0 when Ayton records at least ten points and ten rebounds, and while it\u2019s been<\/a> mainly Luka Doncic<\/a> and Reaves, the big man has been a solid third wheel.<\/p>\n Another classic postgame interview session with Deandre Ayton. Typing his quotes won\u2019t do it justice. Just watch. <\/p>\n Again speaking to Woike, Reaves made it clear<\/a> that when Ayton is playing well, it elevates the team, despite the seven-footer questioning himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need the best version of him for us to be as good as we can be,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he\u2019s that, then we can be a really good team. If he\u2019s not, I still think with talent, we can win some games. But for us to be what we want to be, we need him to be the best version of himself every game.\u201d<\/p>\n Reaves himself heard the rumors surrounding Ayton<\/a> when he joined the Lakers. However, the star guard<\/a> believed everything he heard about his new big man was wrong, even though the impact of those sentiments appeared to cut deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear things about people before you\u2019re around \u2019em, that people try to paint a narrative of character,\u201d Reaves added. \u201cThe things that you hear, the things that I heard about him, was that he wasn\u2019t coachable, moody, and it\u2019s been completely opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPretty good day at the office.\u201d Austin Reaves on Deandre Ayton\u2019s 20-point, 16-rebound night. And as for his own 31-point, 7-assist effort? \u201cS\u2014-ty.\u201d <\/p>\n Head coach JJ Redick<\/a> also commented on Ayton and his locker room moment, but explained that he now understands what his center needs and does to become a winning player.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the offseason rumors, Ayton now has the full support of this Lakers team.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEli Gregorski<\/a> is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Deandre Ayton is aware of the pressure on him after joining the Los Angeles Lakers, which was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-289561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}