The Los Angeles Lakers landed a strong performance from their veteran center Deandre Ayton on Friday night. His showing comes after he landed some critical notes from the NBA legend, Shaquille O’Neal.
Ironically, Ayton became the first Lakers player to score at least 20 points and come down with at least 15 rebounds, while making 90 percent of his field goals since Shaq.
Against the New Orleans Pelicans, Ayton checked in for 36 minutes. During that time, he made all but one of his 11 shots from the field. Ayton dropped 20 points, racked up 16 rebounds, and had two steals. He was a plus-35 on the court for the Lakers, who cruised past the struggling Pelicans on Friday.
What Did Shaq Say About Ayton?
O’Neal has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind on current players, especially those who play the same position that he did. Recently, Ayton caught criticism from Shaq, who called out the big man’s value right now.
“Six points is not enough for me,” O’Neal said of Ayton’s performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. “He needs to learn how, especially when the play breaks down to make opportunities for himself. Because two things happen. When you duck in, you even get the ball and get- You file the go to the line or you get filed and put your team in a penalty and stuff like that. He needs to pull it a little bit.”
Before the Lakers took on the Pelicans, Ayton struggled in a 121-92 beatdown against OKC. In that matchup, Ayton scored just six points and came down with only five rebounds. He clearly bounced back and made up for it in NBA Cup action, where the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 118-104.
Leading up to Friday’s action, Ayton has appeared in 11 games for the Lakers. This year, he has averaged 15.5 points on 67 percent shooting from the field and has come down with 7.5 rebounds per game. The Lakers have a quick turnaround, as they are set to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
For all the latest NBA news and rumors, head over to Newsweek Sports.