The Lakers center talked about playing with the future Hall-of-Famer
Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura had all played with LeBron James prior to the four-time champion’s highly anticipated first game of the 2025-26 NBA season.
Center DeAndre Ayton, who joined the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, was the only starter who had never shared the court with James as his teammate.
Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz, Dayton finally got the opportunity alongside his fellow former first overall draft pick. And he did not waste any time in giving James his flowers, noting after just one contest that the 21-time all-star made life on the court easier for him.
“With [James’] passing and his IQ,” Ayton said during a postgame press conference. “Hearing his voice out there, with me being the last line of defense and him seeing everything and every play…it enhances some of my abilities being a defender and a rim protector. Knowing that he’s the lone man and I can cheat out a little bit and help our guards in pick and roll a little bit more. So the confidence is there, especially when he’s on the floor.”
Ayton played a pivotal role in the Lakers early success prior to James’ return to the lineup.
Alongside fellow starters like Dončić, Reaves, Hachimura, as well as Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia, who spent time with the first unit as well, Dayton stepped up in big ways when Los Angeles was still figuring out how to start a season without a cornerstone piece of the franchise in James.
Ayton is averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this season, having perfectly filled the center position that Los Angeles had been longing for through the first couple of weeks of the campaign. Against the Jazz, he secured a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
This marked the third-straight contest in which he scored 20 points.
Now with James – who appears to have taken some of the load off of Ayton’s shoulders, both defensively and offensively – back in action, the Lakers’ big man will likely have an even greater impact on this team.
“Just being at the right place at the right time, [James is] finding me right away with sharp passes and like I said, he’s making life easy,” Ayton said.
The Lakers play the Jazz again, this time in Salt Lake City, on Nov. 23 with tip-off set for 8 p.m. EST. Los Angeles then heads back to Crypto.com Arena for two games against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks.