Shaquille O'Neal Sends Clear Message to Lakers' Deandre Ayton After Loss to Warriors

Luka Doncic led the way for the Lakers in Tuesday’s loss as he recorded 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists with Austin Reaves adding 26 points, five rebounds and nine assists of his own.

Outside of Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers’ offense struggled as the only other player to score in double figures was Deandre Ayton who had 10 points and six rebounds.

Shaquille O'Neale Sends Message to Deandre Ayton

With the Lakers’ offensive struggles in their season opener with LeBron James out due to injury, it is clear that they need others outside of Doncic and Reaves to step up.

On Wednesday, Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal sent a clear message to Ayton on ESPN as he called for the big man to step it up for Los Angeles.

“Listen Deandre, dominAyton, that performance yesterday, I need you to step it up my boy. You got to do three things. You got to rebound and you got to block shots and you got to dominate,” O’Neal said about Ayton. “The pressure’s not on you, you got two great players that get double a lot. When they make that little bounce pass, catch it and throw it down. You had a small guy guarding you in the post, you turn around and shoot a fadeaway. That’s not going to get it done. We need you brother, we need you to step it up.”

This was a clear message by O’Neal and he makes a great point about what Ayton needs to do to help the Lakers be a top team in the Western Conference.

Of course, Ayton has been more of a midrange shooter during his NBA career but with teams doubling Doncic and James, once he returns from injury, it is clear that O’Neal believes he should be looking to do more inside.

For this to happen, Ayton will need to change his game to fit the Lakers this season and if that ends up not being the case, Los Angeles may be in need of a center once again, which has been a recurring theme since trading Anthony Davis last season.