Stephen A. Smith unloaded on Deandre Ayton on ’s First Take on Monday, May 11, after the Los Angeles Lakers fell behind the Oklahoma City Thunder 3-0 in their Western Conference semifinals series. The criticism came a day after Ayton finished with 10 points and six rebounds in the Lakers’ 131-108 loss in Game 3 in Los Angeles.
Smith’s opening line was blunt: “That damn Deandre Ayton.” He spent much of the segment questioning the center’s effort and urgency, saying Ayton played “50% of the time as if he’s lounging on the beach” and calling the performance “embarrassing.” He also pointed to a moment in which Ayton did not move his feet on an and-1 play, saying the lack of movement was “demoralizing.”
The comments landed on a day when Oklahoma City had a chance to end the series in a sweep and move on to the conference finals. They also landed while Ayton’s numbers with Los Angeles were already under scrutiny. Through the series, he averaged 7.3 points and 9.3 rebounds against the Thunder, well below the production he had carried in the playoffs overall, where he was averaging 10.4 points on 53.1% shooting in 29.3 minutes per game and 10.3 rebounds across nine postseason games.
Ayton’s current playoff run with the Lakers has been marked by a sharp contrast with his earlier postseason work in Phoenix. In 45 career playoff games with the Suns, he averaged 15 points on 61.5% shooting and 105 rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game. He last reached the playoffs in his final season with Phoenix in 2022-23 before being bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers and later joining the Lakers on a two-year deal worth $16.2 million, with a player option for 2026-27.
The friction is not just about scoring. Ayton had the best plus/minus among the Lakers’ starters in Game 4 at minus-8, but the rest of the lineup was battered by the Thunder’s pace and pressure, with LeBron James and Rui Hachimura each finishing at minus-24, Austin Reaves at minus-23 and Marcus Smith at minus-22. Ayton also picked up a foul a second into the game, and with under 10 minutes left and the Lakers trailing 98-87, he failed to secure a defensive rebound on a sequence that drew a televised call from Dave Pasch: “Boy, Ayton can not get a defensive rebound.”
Smith argued the larger problem is what Ayton’s presence does to the group around him, saying the Lakers may almost have to move on from him because of the effect of his “flagrant lack of urgency.” For a team that already dropped its first-round series against Houston before reaching this matchup, the question now is whether Ayton can answer that criticism before Oklahoma City closes the door for good.
