Lakers Starter Apologizes for Leaving With Surprise Injury

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Lakers center Deandre Ayton

It has not been a banner week or two for Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton, who has taking plenty of incoming criticism after an ESPN story about him caught the big man complaining about the Lakers trying to “turn me into Clint Capela,” a reference to the backup Rockets center. That quote highlighted the fact that Ayton does not always work as hard as he needs to, during games and in practice, and that he has not been a great fit with the offensive minded Lakers starting unit.

But on Thursday, Ayton was just breaking a sweat in the early minutes of the team’s loss in Denver to the Nuggets, when he felt something wrong in his knee. Ayton left the game and did not return. It was a tough break in a game in which Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was dominant with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists.

In fact, according to teammate and mentor Marcus Smart–whose locker is next to Ayton’s, there was enough disappointment on Ayton’s part that he actually apologized for getting hurt.

Lakers Loss ‘Sucked’ for Deandre Ayton

Ayton left the Lakers locker room before speaking to reporters, but Smart described how Ayton was struggling with his state of mind and how, from Ayton’s own perspective, he feels he is doing what he can to help the team.

“He’s down. For him, it sucked for him not to be out there,” Smart said. “He tried to go and it just didn’t feel right for him. It sucks. We definitely could’ve used him. I know as of lately, he’s been getting a lot of backlash for his effort and play. He understands it. I know it may not seem like it, but he does.

“And he wants to do good and he wants to help this team. I think that’s what’s more frustrating for him because he’s trying but the way he’s trying isn’t working and he’s still trying to figure it out. But he definitely was down tonight, he just actually left talking to me, saying how he wished he could’ve been out there and how sorry he was. But he can’t control that he couldn’t go and didn’t feel it. Hopefully next game he’s ready to go, we could use him.”

Jaxson Hayes to Take Over During Injury

It is not clear how long Ayton will be out for the Lakers, who will return home after their brief junket to Denver. Ayton has averaged 12.6 points and 8.2 rebounds this season, and while he would like more shots and more offensive opportunities, the Lakers have been trying to be more of a star in his role than simply a star.

The team will have Jaxson Hayes filling in for Ayton, and Hayes has started seven games this season, plus 35 last season. Hayes should be up for the fill-in role and had 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting after Ayton went out.

Hayes said he enjoyed facing Jokic: “It’s fun, I mean I like the challenge. That’s the competitive nature of us players. If you don’t like the challenge then why are you here?”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney