Shaq rips Deandre Ayton for stinker of a Lakers debut

Deandre Ayton, the new starting center of the Los Angeles Lakers, has enormous shoes to fill. 

After all, the greatest big men in the history of the sport — George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob McAdoo, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis, among others — wore Purple and Gold colors during their careers. 

In his Lakers debut, Ayton was underwhelming, to put it mildly, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds in 34 minutes of action. More concerningly, he was unable to protect the paint, as Golden State Warriors players had an open lane to the rim and scored easily. 

Shaq blasts Deandre Ayton

O'Neal has urged Ayton to understand the responsibility that comes with being the Lakers starting center. During Wednesday's broadcast of "Inside the NBA" on ESPN, Shaq sent a stern message to Ayton.

"Listen Deandre, Domin-Ayton, that performance you had yesterday," O'Neal began with a thumbs down gesture. "I need you to step it up, my boy. You gotta do three things: You gotta rebound, and you gotta block shots, and you gotta dominate."

O'Neal said that, unlike other legendary Lakers centers in the past, Ayton is "not under pressure" to score as he gets to play with Luka Doncic and LeBron James (when he returns from injury).  

Deandre Ayton struggles to anchor defense

As such, Shaq feels Ayton should capitalize on the lack of attention on him.

"When you have a small guy in the post, you've got to dominate. We need you. You were terrible. Come on, Deandre," he added.

Charles Barkley added that Ayton should "easily" average 20 points and 10 rebounds when James sits out. Ayton was specifically brought to the Lakers to be their primary rim protector, a role he vocally embraced during the preseason.

"I'm just trying to let the league know that I'm the Lakers center and anchor of this defense," he told Spectrum SportsNet.

Ayton was anything but a defensive anchor on Tuesday, as the Warriors shot 69.2 percent in the restricted area, amounting to 36 points.