Deandre Ayton needed Lakers teammates to troll him to fire him up

Deandre Ayton was widely criticized for his underwhelming performances in the first two games of the new Los Angeles Lakers season. All that changed Sunday when he posted 22 points and 15 rebounds in his team's 127-120 win over the Sacramento Kings. 

Deandre Ayton trolled by teammates

After the game, Ayton revealed that he heard an earful about his earlier poor performances not just from fans and analysts, but even from his teammates. The Bahamian revealed that getting picked on in the Lakers locker room pushed him to adopt an aggressive mindset.

"They be trying to get me ticked off before these games, just to get me rolling," Ayton said, via ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I'm starting to see it as a trend because I don't get a break [on the trolling] until we're on the court. Then it's all seriousness, and 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."

While Ayton didn't go into the specifics of the trolling, he was admittedly "caught off guard" when he first heard friendly insults hurled at him. The 7-footer added that the tough love went away, albeit temporarily, when he walked into the locker room on Sunday night. 

Deandre Ayton dominates star matchup

The most impressive aspect of Ayton's performance was his domination of Domantas Sabonis, one of the NBA's best big men, on both ends of the floor. The Kings star — who has led the league in rebounds for three straight seasons — finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds and was thoroughly outplayed by his Lakers counterpart.

Ayton held Sabonis to 1-of-5 shooting (20 percent) and did a solid job of protecting the rim and blocking off driving lanes for the Kings' ball-handlers. He also did well when switched onto guards, holding DeMar DeRozan to 0-of-3 shooting and Zach LaVine to 3-of-7.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick was all praise for Ayton.

"He just keeps getting better every single day that he’s with this group," Redick said of Ayton, via NBA.com. "I thought the pick-and-roll stuff was really good tonight. His pocket decision-making was really good. Love seeing him get 15 rebounds, but I think offensively that was his best night."

Ayton and the Lakers (2-1) will next host the Portland Trail Blazers (1-2) on Monday night. The game will allow Ayton to get revenge on his former team, which waived him this past offseason.