Trail Blazers’ Deandre Ayton opens up about overcoming personal struggles that led to recent success

Note: Listen to Deandre Ayton’s comments and reactions to them in the latest episode of the Blazer Focused podcast.

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Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton has worked to overcome a slow start to the season, injuries, adjusting to a new city and team, plus personal challenges since coming to Rip City.

Following Thursday night’s loss to the New York Knicks, Ayton, 25, opened up about some of the obstacles he has faced and how that journey has led to him now finally displaying the potential the Blazers have banked on since acquiring him from the Phoenix Suns prior to training camp.

“I got all the money in the world but at the same time, some of this is inhumane where money don’t matter, just having your people around and the support you need,” Ayton said.

After months of uneven play, Ayton has averaged 29 points and 16.8 rebounds over his last four games. He has produced at least 20 points with 10 rebounds in six of his last seven outings. In that seventh game, Ayton had 12 points and six rebounds before being lost for the second half with a wrist sprain.

Earlier in the season, Ayton played far less aggressively. At the time, Ayton said on Thursday, he was feeling his way through the offense and playing with new players. But there was more to his struggles.

“My body wasn’t just my body,” he said. “People forget the humane difference of me adjusting to everything.”

That included something as routine as getting proper sleep.

“Just being comfortable in waking up,” he said. “I didn’t have a bed for quite some time. I was on an air mattress. Just trying to figure this out.”

Ayton added that he also contended with family coming in and out of town. Finding them places to stay. He also had to consider the changes for his young son, Deandre Ayton Jr.

Now, Ayton has his life better sorted out. He feels more comfortable with this team and its schemes, and his body feels good. For these reasons, he said, he has finally been able to flourish.

Ayton went on runs like this before for the Phoenix Suns, who selected him No. 1 overall during the 2018 NBA draft. But his inconsistent play ultimately caused the Suns to make him available last summer.

The Blazers are hoping that he can mature into a reliable dominant force.

Proving his arrival as such will require more than just a handful of strong performances. But Ayton insists that this run isn’t fleeting. He wants the rest of the team to know that win or lose, they can trust that he will be a force they can rely upon.

“I just want people to believe no matter what the game is, no matter how it looks, regardless, no matter the fact, I’m gonna try my best way to make winning plays,” Ayton said. “That’s just it. Whether it’s me scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, cheering on my teammates, getting them going, making plays, just rolling to the rim, not getting the ball, it don’t matter. I’m just trying to show everybody I can do it all.”

The Blazers (19-46) went 2-2 during this four-game outburst from Ayton. He was just about as dominant during the losses as he was during the victories.

“No matter the outcome of the game, you’re going to see I played my ass off,” Ayton said. “Played hard enough to where I tried. I feel like the whole team was like that as well. We all contributed and I tried my best to keep my energy up for my guys too, so nobody gets deflated.”

During the Blazers’ 105-93 loss to the Knicks on Thursday, Ayton did his best work in the second half even though the team had fallen far behind. He scored 21 points over the final two quarters with 12 rebounds, finishing the game with 31 points and 14 rebounds.

Keep in mind that Ayton displayed such effort while playing without Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant or Malcolm Brogdon. Ayton was the only proven veteran player in the lineup other than Matisse Thybulle.

Ayton said he maintained his effort in order to be an example to the younger players as a way to reaffirm that he is ready to embrace being a leader no matter the situation.

“Most definitely,” he said. “These are young guys and, playing against good teams, hustle plays and big momentum plays tend to deflate you. It’s an emotional game. But having that fire, just that one guy making hard on-ball plays and still going is contagious. And I try to be that guy, also.”

Maybe most important, Ayton feels a sense of duty to perform for Rip City, which he said has fully embraced him. Yes, he has heard the haters and the doubters who question if he has what it takes to truly blossom into a reliable star. But the love he has felt from Blazers fans, he said, has helped him get to this point.

“That’s all I could really ask for and it made it easy,” he said. “I felt like I adjusted quickly. But at the same time, it’s good to acknowledge that we are human and things like that do have to take into place where you have to adjust to certain cities and teammates and things like that.”

And ice.

“Literally,” Ayton said with a laugh.

With that, Ayton was persuaded to launch into a humorous tale of what exactly happened Jan. 17 when he missed the team’s win over the Brooklyn Nets while being trapped at home by the ice storm that covered the area.

That story can be found on the Blazer Focused podcast.

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-- Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)

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