Ayton on playing his first game with LeBron James: “He threw me an alley-oop and I told him, ‘That’s my 2nd alley-oop from you. The 1st one was when I was in 8th grade at your camp.’”
For some context on how long ago that was, this is Ayton’s 8th year in the NBA.
Shit bro 8 years, damn it I swear it hasn’t been that long….
I jist saw a graphic about Mo Wagner and hes also been in the NBA for 8 years. Blew my mind
It always blows my mind when you hear the names of these guys who aren’t household names but have been in the league way longer than you’d think and longer most athletes. Those dudes must be workhorses to stay employed at the top this long.
Watching the Utah game last night was a trip because it was all: “oh shit Svi M is on this team? he was drafted by the Lakers” “oh shit Nurkic is on this team? Blazers fans hate his ass” “oh shit SLO MO is on this team? bruins represent” “oh shit KEVIN LOVE IS STILL PLAYING?!?!! wtf”
Are you me
Well I’ve never played FF 14 though I do love both FF 1 AND FF 4, soooo………… yes?
(I realize I’m dating myself here, lol)
FF14 was a great time waster during early covid. No regrets at all
Blazer fans dont hate him afaik
I remember him at Michigan 😵💫😵💫
Do the brothers still play together
Yep, Franz is pretty nice. Arguably the magics best player
Brook Lopez was drafted 17 years ago
My thoughts exactly, where the hell do time be going
away :(
laughing_Then_cryingKid.gif
He might as well had taken a paid sabbatical after the Suns extended him.
& LeBron was in like his 11th season at the time? Lmao
We probably were already saying ‘this madness can’t go on much longer’ back then.
15th season if i’m not wrong
I was talking about at the time of the camp & exaggerating (I think)
It’s definitely not lebrons 15th season now nor was it anywhere close to his 15th season when Ayton was in 8th grade lmao you mfs are absolutely terrible at math
Assuming ayton was 14 or so at the time that would have been 13 years ago in 2012, LeBrons first season was 2003
You are wrong. Deandre Ayton didn’t enter the NBA directly out of 8th grade.
At this point you could form a playoff team with LeBron and players who were born post LeBrons first game
Bro I did not need this
Crazier. If he said ‘kindergarten camp’ that would put lebron in his 2nd year and likely capable of camps
Cooper flagg was born after LeBron went to the finals
Damn 😮
Lebron somehow felt even older now
Even crazier Aytons freshman year was 2017⁄18 which means he was in 8th grade in 2012⁄2013 this wasn’t like a young bron throwing this lob. This was LeBron in his 10th year, this is post championship LeBron, this is 3x MVP LeBron
I know time is supposed to go faster as you get older but…something really seems off about this. I’m still not convinced 2020-2022 wasn’t actually like 5 years
Oh my god. I thought it was his first year.
I’d have crumbled into dust if he told me that
That’s around ~17 years ago then. LeBron 4th year in the league?
Damn, Ayton was huge as an 8 year old if he could dunk at that age now that I think about it.
Ayton would have been 10 years old 17 years ago, 8th graders are more like 14 years old
He’s 13 years younger than Lebron
lol, ayton has been a totally loveable goofball all season. Crazy how ones salary can affect your perception of a guy
Crazy how ones salary can affect your perception of a guy
Westbrook on the Lakers vs on the Nuggets
Harassment vs Flirting
5’11 vs 6’0 on tinder
got damn. As a 5’11” 5’10” 5’9” 5’8” guy, that one hurt.
if you round to the nearest 6 foot, you’re 6 foot. keep your head up king
We talking Arkansas math or regular?
in arkansas math, he’s practically wemby!
I mean, he kind of has to if he wants to see over everyone in front of him
Westbrook 3 weeks ago: “They told me don’t pick up the player option. I don’t go nowhere I’m not wanted”.
What would you do? Unless Westbrook is straight up lying (which Denver would have made a comment by now), what do you expect him to do? Go against the wishes of the GM and organization and pick up his option? No one is that stupid and would know he would be at the end of the bench and/or traded as soon as he could be to a shit team. Westbrook is treated like the devil on this sub when all i see is a guy making negotiations with his team, both chose to part ways, and that was that.
I mean he valued playing time and the ability to pick his destination over the money. He clearly is happy with his bank account, so he exercised his option in his and Denvers best interests. Win win
I’d bet you money that’s not that Denver said and it’s instead just how Westbrook interprets the GMs comment of “if you take the player option, know you’re getting 0-10 min a game off the bench”.
Ehhh. Idk. I wouldn’t put it past any GM given Nico and Darryl’s past relationships with certain players.
Aren’t players usually untradeable on a player option year?
They could’ve used him against the Bulls the other night…
Bradley Beal on the Suns vs Bradley Beal on the Clippers.
well hes also handling things different. for starters hes playing for a contract and survival as a starting center in the nba, thats humbling in itself
2nd hes playing with people he really respects in Luka and Lebron who he knows will highlight and bring and demand the best in him And redick is taking the time to learn his personality and whats the best communication style with him
all that with the natural maturity that comes beginning into mid/late 20s and his professional experience lakers are getting a low risk high reward guy and so far pretty good signs lately
He definitely vibes with the leaders on this team more than he did the ones in Phoenix or Portland. Obviously that could still change but it certainly helps that JJ’s made an effort to adjust around Ayton and not the other way around.
I agree, redick it made it a noted point on how ayton responds-thats a start. ayton also has had enough adversity and was not given many other contracts so humbling to know that he has to really prove himself which he has noted
and he knew luka since draft day and always have given him his respect, lebron is lebron. both these guys he can learn from as well as make his job much easier.
its a good bet to get that kind of talent, but as you said if he doesnt have attention to detail in boxing out and setting picks come playoff time all 3 of those guys might not be as patient or friendly. time will tell, but ayton has been a walking double double his whole career thats never been a problem
JJ seems like a shockingly good coach from the man management side. I always knew he knew the game from his TV stuff and his podcast with Lebron. I just didnt know how he’d adapt to leading guys he didnt seem to have that presence. Now you see it and hes getting a ton out of guys like Ayton. It’s early but still. Also, Luka was genuinely out of shape and overweight. JJ said that directly said he needed to be in championship shape etc. Luka took that to heart. and dropped the weight, sure the mavs thing might have been part of the motivation but in his entire career that had been a narrative about him and JJ was the first coach to make a point about it and he changed. Id like to see what Ayton is like after a year here. He could easily make good on his career still
peer cohesion and complimentary leadership. you can see the impact it has on people and work environments from the ‘lowest’ to the highest of specialization. in a time of bringing things down to numbers, its still key
these are still humans at the end of the day. amazingly talented ones, so when you have a guy with the talent but issues about locking in, it takes attention to each person to see what they need to get the best out of them
LA has had its share of rotating castaways over the years to middling success. regardless of how this year turns out team wise, I think itll be a great way to redirect Aytons career and personal growth. ill be rooting for him to keep this up and appreciate the role JJ has had in his players seeming to have fun with the game. Youve seen it with Rui too. Austin is a home grown talent and hes come a long way esp of late. The post-Lebron era seems in good shape
I think it may be that he was coached by good player coaches. He had Coach K at Duke who also coached the mens olympic team. He knew how to work with big egos and various personalities. And I would say the same thing about Stan Van Gundy. It seems like he got teams to buy in and be team oriented, and I think that is a challenging thing in the NBA.
I agree, I think to see his podcast and tv stuff he was able to deal with all the athletes, not try to be something hes not but resonate with their why and how and then he was also able to effectively communicate with the tmz like espn nature. So basically, he’s a top notch communicator.
I do believe Jkidd talked about it too and continued to rightfly point out that winning comes from defense which is so much about energy. So I don’t think he wasn’t aware, I take that as a kid being 25 and dominating the league, already going to the WCF and Finals- as in with those results he may feel very little urgency to change. But adversity, maturity, all the above changes and he was fueled with maybe the most public nba level of that sort with both being thrown away by his old team where he was ready to sign a max, losing over 9 figures in said extension, and then being publicly bashed by both the new owner and GM after he left. IT was close to unprecedented level in the NBA world.
Now you take this fuel on a guy who is clearly competitive and at an age where he would naturally start maturing and then on top of all that you give him the blueprint of Lebron james, who he looked up to before and similarly just one of the best read players in the game, who is entering his unprecedented 23rd year and has longevity in ways no one ever has and is diligent and intelligent about it. so all those things set up luka up to maximize his talent.
I agree on Ayton, 27 maybe old to NBA people but as a human being he can still change and still has the raw talent to get it done. He is in a great spot, although I think lakers to maximize luka should be looking for a better lob threat and hard roller, but htey couldn’t have done worse than they did last year and it sounds like they are making sure they have enough cap space if Giannis or a big star wants out by next year. I think its very misguided not offering lebron another one year extension both because how you treat lebron, giannis pays attention and has already said lebron’s blue print has been a gift for him, hes respected around the league and as mentioned above just his diligent habits and being around them are going to maximize luka and theres no free agent next summer who compares to him
I’ve been a believer of JJ from how the team responded to those massive blowouts early last year, in the late Nov/early Dec stretch. I liked him early, became skeptical from the blowouts then became a massive believer during that huge stretch as defensive worldbeaters across 4 major lineup changes.
He knows how to bring out the best in guys and how to slot them around other players. I also appreciated how he sees that Ayton responds better to positive reinforcement, not making him feel like shit (tho of course we know JJ’s gonna have those moments too, but he’ll also recognize when to pull it back).
That’s why I was so surprised the national talking heads were so down on the Lakers going into the season despite clearly fixing roster holes and JJ no longer a rookie coach (plus not having to deal with a burned down home). As long as he doesn’t burn himself out (big IF) I honestly feel JJ has the chops to be a HOF-caliber coach.
To be fair, not a lot of people vibed with CP and Monty, especially the latter.
Booker and KD are not leaders and with KD he brought a lot of toxicity with him which affected the vibes the entire time he was with the Suns.
JJ seems to be able to motivate Ayton so hopefully that lasts and Ayton can rehabilitate his bad rep of being a lazy player.
I remember idiots on here saying this was a dumb signing. This was an upgrade at center that had no risk and a solid reward
Well the risk was that he would destroy team chemistry but that was more of a low risk.
With Lebron there he wouldn’t let that happen.
I mean didn’t it happen with Westbrook and the Lakers
It was always a weird dynamic. Westbrook was thriving as the vet everyone looked up to in DC, but he got to LA with a bench full of HoFers chasing rings who didn’t need that kind of energy.
But who knows, maybe JJ would have handled that better too.
I forgot that team was full of old veterans too, that really can’t have helped when Russ was trying to preach just having fun.
Also it never made any sense tbh.
Would that really be that much of a risk? The Lakers seem to have really good leadership rn
well its the opportunity cost and total context that was concerning. you have your golden boy in luka who has shown basically if you give him a formidable team, or what he had in dallas spacing and importantly a pick and roll partner/lob threat he can carry a heavy load and give you a chance to win in the playoffs.
Ayton was known to have raw talent but lackluster in the parts of setting picks, boxing out, physicality which is why some winning players didnt want to play with him. he was always a box score stud.
so not taking a big swing for that vital position for lakers was a bit of a risk
but yea they were running the likes of jaxson hayes as a starter, you really could only get better from what they were doing and at 8 million ayton is a solid experiment and so far the potential is showing. but he needs to make sure come winning time/playoff time that he does those things that doesnt show up in the box score otherwise he could wear out his welcome and of course not only is he playing with greats he is in a prove it contract year so all the reasons that he should go balls out in whatever they ask him to do. so far so good
literally nobody said this because it only cost the lakers $8m in cap
I did see quite a few Suns and Trailblazers fans who seem to forgot that it’s only 8m.
Also: Not getting chewed out by CP3 every day
oddly enough he cited cp3 as a guy who bought the best out of him, so did shai and okc in that unlikely playoff run. cp3 is a winner, but yea ayton i agre sounds like a more softspoken positive reinforcement guy who reddick nailed…redick was another guy who enjoyed playing with cp3
but as mentioned, if he isnt setting good picks and getting physical come playoff time, lebron, luka, and redick will not have the patience
Tbh (so far)even if he was making 25mil, he would have been more than worth it hes been great.
What watching Jaxson Hayes start for 35 games does to a mf
What watching Jaxson Hayes start for 35 games one minute of Alex Len does to a mf
Shudders
I had blocked that out
Yeah this is all he ever had to be. Roll man, rim runner, rebounds, defense, kick outs.
He’s always been on average a very good starting center. Just has wild variance
Career averages per 36 minutes: 19.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.1 blocks on 61.5 TS% and 21.0 USG%
14 games so far with the Lakers: 19.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.1 blocks on 69.5 TS% and 20.4 USG%
Aside from the higher TS%, he’s basically playing the same for the Lakers as he has his whole career. Perception is a funny thing.
Last year we had to run ALEX FUCKING LEN. What a difference
It’s literally just winning. Winning changes everything literally. Different sport but Baker Mayfield was an abrasive dick on Cleveland, now on Tampa Bay he’s the cocky leader every team wants in a Quarterback - and all that changed was winning
He made the finals on the Suns and still quit on the team, what are you talking about?
At the end of the day he’s on a contract year and putting on his best face so he can get paid another 120 million dollars and then the Lakers will have $30m Ayton on the books and then you’ll see what the real Ayton is like.
Ayton trick y’all man. I can’t believe in a contract year the guy totally changes his personality and starts playing 2x harder every game than he did for every other team he ever played for in the NBA and people are like “this is what Ayton has had in him all along, now he’s on a winning team!”
it’s just… i mean… come on?
Here’s a better phrase. Winning and a fresh start cures all. It helps if an attitude change acxompanies, but it’s not required
he was winning on the suns, they made the finals and won 60+ games lmao
I check lakers box scores every morning. Ayton is doing everything and more of what they needed from him. He’s a hyper efficient scorer and gets rebounds.
I think its less about that and more about the pressure not being fully on him. More eyes are on Luka and Lebron and even AR now. He started the season poorly trying to force things before he found his role.
Look at his face lol he’s living his dream right now
Not really… Bigger salaries come with bigger expectations.
Bradley Beal on the suns vs after waiving the NTC
The salary had nothing to do with it. Have you just never noticed how little he cares about… anything in the last few years?
LeMiniscing RuminAyton
Q U A L I T Y
The LeMeme participAyton factor for the fanbase was an unforeseen bonus
This one got me
Everyone out here reminding LeBron what an old ass man he is
lol first time jabari smith jr. played against him he hit him with the ‘your first game ever, you played against my dad’ and then they laughed it off together
….. but for a second there you could see bron taking psychic damage as he processed it like ‘hold up is this kid fucking with me - wait wtf’
The future is now old man- Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle
Being worn down by that will retire the dude before his body does.
LeLongevity
LeMummified
LeBenjaminButton
LeDorianGray
LeEdwardCullen
LeJuniorHigh
RecreAyton
LeRoleModel
Im deadly serious when I say Ayton’s the only guy who can make Spalding catch feelings. Every time Ayton goes for a layup, the rim moans a little. In other words Ayton’s hands are so soft, he could make a cactus feel wanted.
The NBA uses Wilson balls now
HAHAHA
there is this lob he caught from Bron in transition and made this lightning quick spin move and barely just cooked the layup but got up super quick for the putback. The guy is a really good big man and he actually is very unemphatic about it. Just likes to flush it down or do the kiss off the rim. He definitely has a bag and it’s good to see his motor holding up so far into the season.
It’s always a matchup thing for him. He has been occasionally dominant everywhere he’s been. But when he’s mismatched it is absolutely glaring. He’s very good and the coaches just need to do good about managing things when he is outmatched instead of trying to make him be a square peg for a round hole.
Sometimes I wish Lakers fans weren’t allowed to comment on posts about the Lakers
i agree, delete your comment
Who knew Ayton was chill like this?
I kinda hope he finds that Suns form he had that season when they made the finals.
The NBA is fun when players are playing to their potential.
He’s always been chill and hilarious off the court. No one knew cus no one cares about the Suns or Blazers.
I think the problem with Ayton is he’s always been too chill
Yeah he’s an islander. It’s always been his knock but I still love the kid and always have.
anyone who saw anything about him? which is admittedly not many people i guess but like more or less the sole two things i knew about him as someone who didn’t specifically follow him or the suns are that one quote about getting a second contract or whatever, and that he was considered like goofy/quirky off the court, almost to the point of being a bit weird. isn’t the entire basis of the worrying about him that he’s too chill and doesn’t maximize his talent cause he doesn’t care about the game the same way a lot of guys do?
i also feel like i remember him doing an interview where he was just roleplaying and doing different voices the entire time as a bit?? i may have hallucinated that but i don’t think i did and i’m too lazy to google anything about mr. Dean Dre Ayton
Who does this remind me of? That voice is exactly like someone…. it’s on the tip of my tongue. Some comedian I think…. who is it?
Edit: Ah…. Eddie murphy. Especially at the end of the clip. The way he says it, I can close my eyes and picture Eddie
He kind of sounds like Walt Frazier sometimes
Lol damn your right
Like if Eddie Murphy was doing a Canadian accent
Definite Eddie Murphy but it sounds like Prince’s normal voice.
LeFullCircle
LeMaking Dreams Come True
Catching oops in 8th grade is nuts.
Young Ayton was a monster. I remember when he was a HS Freshman and absolutely dominated a pretty good UNC front court in an exhibition game.
dominayted*
I just watched my daughter’s first soccer game and there were two girls on the other team that were 6’2” in the 8th grade. Kids are huge these days.
recallAyton
A LeOop, if you will
DeAlley LeOop
DA always been a great interview and funny dude. Main reason I was one of the last Suns fans to believe in him.
No one knew cus he played for the Suns and the Blazers. Glad people are finally seeing. Hope the extra attention doesn’t backfire on him in the playoffs. Hope he balls out, but I hope they lose FTL.
how can you hate this man
Suns and Trail Blazers fans could.
For them he was very frustrAyton
Eh, too bad, they gotta stop hAyton
He was dog shit on the blazers. Watching him play irl. Bro acted like he was shaq and wanted to play 2k instead of play the game. Also, bros a multimillionaire and complained about sleeping on an air mattress and couldn’t leave his house due to ice.
Maybe, he was younger and the lakers are his wake up call but he was not a good player for the blazers
You hate him because of this?
I too was catching oops from LeBron when I was in 8th grade
That is hilarious 😂
The 2nd alley-oop from LeBron only took 13 years of waiting to happen for Ayton 😂
Ayton is in year 8 right? It always shocks me how long LeBron’s been playing because this dude went to his basketball camp in 8th grade and is now playing alongside him while he’s in his 8th season.
Theres some guys who were 0 when he was playing who are now playing with him
I think it is now over 80 players who weren’t born yet when LeBron entered the league.
We are probably not far out from seeing a few draftees born after he started playing that retire before him
I could honestly see a lottery or 1st round pick doing that.
Which is what 15-20% of active players? depending how many are on active rosters
Just under 20% An absolutely absurd stat.
if LeBron plays for another 3-4 years it probably hits 25 or 30.
I’m way too lazy to do the math on how much that number goes up every draft, but I think it goes up at least 5% every year.
The percentage is absurd. Like unthinkable if you looked back 10 years ago.
Keyonte George dropped a 30 bomb on us last night and he was born after Lebron debuted in the NBA.
“who were 0” is taking me out 😂😂😂
Also that
Yeah just keep on pumping your stock Dominayton.
Contract year baby!. get that 80⁄4 !!
Man I really like Ayton
Yoooooo between the Lakers and Rockets the vibes are fucking amazing. This is gonna be such a good season
Fuck it. Im glad Ayton is happy. I wish he didnt fall out with the suns so hard because he was an important player here, I think he couldn’t deal with the pressure of being a go-to option. But he had great games and made history, and the Valley Oop is an immortal play.
He’s able to play off Luka, AR, Lebron and pick up numbers because he is an athletic big who can defend %wise very well at the rim.
that’s actually insane.
I remember the narratives on here and on the socials after DA got outplayed by Al and Post lol, that was a month ago. He’s having a really good year. Cool to see.
LeAncient
dude dunked in 8th grade?
He was probably 6’6” in 8th grade.
That isn’t surprising at all. He was tall and could jump.
Throwing down alley oops in 8th grade? Yeah NBA talent is different
Catching lobs in 8th grade is crazy
His public speaking has become smooth as butter compared to what it was during his time on the Suns. I remember the um’s and uh’s were almost unbearable.
From a camper to a teammate. That’s legendary!
This Ayton guy is growing on me. I couldn’t tell if he was dogging sometimes or what, but seems like he’s just a genuinely chill dude. Glad Luka, AR, and LBJ are finding a away to get him engaged in each game. Dude’s living the LA dream.
LeOldasfuck
You Old.
It’s wild they’ll be a whole generation of kids that never got to see Bron play
Glad LeBron back…sik highlights
Go Cetltics 🍀
This is like Jabari Smith Jr. telling LeBron he played against his dad his first game in the league.
Lebron’s never thrown him an alley oop in practice?
“For you, the day LeBron graced your alley-oop was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday.”
,,,, And then Lebron said “Well that will be the last one because im trading your ass tomorrow. We’re getting a years supply of Pringles for you”
LeBron: that was my favorite alley-oop ever
is it just me or is this dude Benjamin Buttoning??
you’re telling me that what we’re looking at is him 8 years older than he was in this picture??? nah bro there’s no way. they killed the original Ayton and replaced him with this young man, like that one Avril Lavigne conspiracy theory
This guy was catching alley oops in 8th grade
For Ayton, the day Lebron graced him with an alley-oop was the most important day of his life. But for Lebron, it was Tuesday.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure :(
I know he’s a unit now but we gonna talk about ayton being able to dunk in 8th grade lol
Lol
Ayton was taking money at U OF A INTEGRITY CHALLENGED PROBABLY GAMBLING INSIDER TOO SMH
LeMachine
Why does Ayton look older than Bron..