Oct 26, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) looks to pass the ball during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Lakers Players Taking Wild Approach to Motivate Deandre Ayton

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Patrick Warren | Last updated Oct 29, 2025 4:30 PM ET

After his 22-point, 15-rebound performance against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, Lakers center Deandre Ayton earned the praise of his head coach JJ Redick, who called it the best performance of the center's short career in L.A.

As the Los Angeles Times' Thuc Nhi Nguyen writes, Ayton's inconsistency is why the former No. 1 overall pick has found himself on a 2-year, $16.2 million contract instead of a much more lucrative deal that many top overall picks earn at this point in their careers.

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Part of the Lakers' strategy in motivating Ayton to put in more effort is to tease and even troll the 7-footer.

"To do it, teammates are trying to tap into unique parts of Ayton’s personality," Nguyen wrote. "They keep him engaged by relentlessly trolling him, Ayton said. They tease him about how many times he’ll be boxed out or whether he’ll lose the opening tip. Being the butt of their jokes seems to motivate Ayton. Playful trash talk appears to be the Lakers’ primary love language."

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Ayton doesn't seem to mind his teammates' motivation tactics, because it's a sign that they care.

“I’m starting to see it’s a trend because I don’t get a break until we on the court, then it’s all seriousness,” Ayton said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, so this is a thing y’all want to do. Y’all want to get me to the edge. Y’all want me fired up.’ I like it: your teammates are starting to know me, and I ain’t had that in a while where dudes really care.”

For the Lakers, no play was more emblematic of the version of Ayton they want to see than his fourth-quarter dunk against Sacramento. With a little over five minutes remaining, Ayton missed his initial jumper, crashed the glass and used two hands to dunk the ball over Domantas Sabonis.

“We’ve been waiting on that, man,” forward Jarred Vanderbilt said. “I know he got it in him so for him to just change the energy like that and actually first of all, crash for the board, and then actually dunking it, he let out some energy. That’s what we need from him every single night.”