DeAndre Ayton

At 26 years old, DeAndre Ayton has this physical status:

Deandre Ayton, a professional basketball player for the Bahamian National Basketball Association (NBA), was born on July 23, 1998. (NBA).

He appeared for the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference in the 2017-18 season and was a unanimous five-star candidate in the Class of 2017, as well as a McDonald's All-American.

The Suns selected Ayton with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

He was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team for the 2018–19 NBA season.

Early life

Edward Egerue, a Nigerian of Igbo descent, and his mother Andrea Chambers Ayton is a Jamaican and Bahamian descent. Ayton went from the Bahamas to San Diego, California, to play high school basketball.

Personal life

Ayton donated $100,000 to various relief efforts and held a relief drive on September 10, 2019 to gather more supplies and donations for those affected by the hurricane.

Deandre Obinna Ayton, Jr., Ayton's first son was born on March 6, 2021.

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High school career

Ayton played for Balboa School in California and spent two years on the varsity basketball team. Ayton dominated Balboa in 2014-2015, winning 21 points, 16 rebounds, and 6.9 blocks per game as a sophomore. In 21 of 22 of the regular season games, he had a double-double. On the Under Armour circuit, he averaged 16.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks during a game for Supreme Court AAU (California) last summer.

Ayton, a junior at Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix, Arizona, to spend his remaining two years. In 2018's top-ranked Class of 2017 pick Marvin Bagley III, he became teammates during this high school year. Ayton's averaged 29.2 points, 16.7 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game during his junior year.

Ayton, a senior, led Hillcrest to a 33–6 record and national rankings in 2016, as a senior, while still averaging 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks. He led Hillcrest to a Grind Session World Championship, winning Finals MVP and Season MVP. Ayton, who was on the World Select team, competed at the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit, netting eight points and seven rebounds.

Scout.com, Rivals.com, and ESPN named Ayton one of the top recruiters in the 2017 recruiting class. He was rated as a five-star recruiter and the No. 1 in the United States. Overall, there are three recruits and No. In the 2017 high school class, there is one center. He was ranked by Scout as the best prospect in all of high school in the "Ultimate 100" series in 2015. Ayton had narrowed his choices among three colleges: Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky. He pledged to play for the Arizona Wildcats on September 6, 2016, and signed his letter of intent.

College career

In a 101-67 victory over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, Ayton made his debut with the University of Arizona on November 10, 2017, scoring 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. His 19 points were the seventh most for a freshman in Arizona's debut; rather, Duan Risti was Arizona's starting center. In an 88-82 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ayton posted what was, at the time, a season-high 29 points and 18 rebounds. He had 19 rebounds against the Arizona State Sun Devils in December 30, 2017, which would have been a season-high at the time. He blocked 6 shots against Stanford on January 20, 2018, the most in Arizona freshman single game history. In 34 games, he had also played 17 20-point games and 23 double-doubles. However, although Ayton's freshman season was bribes, there were also scandals during his last few months.

According to a wiretap, Arizona's head coach, Sean Miller, allegedly met with Christian Dawkins (a leading figure in the 2017-19 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal), in order to enroll Ayton $100,000 to allow him to enroll the university despite the fact that the financial situation was being dealt with directly to him. Though Miller will not be coaching the next game against Oregon (assistant coach Lorenzo Romar will replace Miller that night), Ayton will still play that day as the starting center. In the overtime loss to Oregon, Ayton would have scored 28 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks. According to reports, the wiretapped chat took place in 2016 while Ayton was still attending the Hillcrest Prep Academy. T.J. Gassnola, a now-former Adidas consultant who worked with Ayton's families in order to enroll in some Adidas sponsored programs, was revealed later today. Federal prosecutors convicted Miller of paying Ayton $10,000 per month when enrolled at Arizona on May 2, 2019.

Head coach Sean Miller, along with underclassmen Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier, announced on March 3, 2018, who watched them both play in the 2018 NBA draft after they won by a 66–54 victory over California, where he'd scored 26 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 66–54 win over California. In a 78–67 overtime victory over UCLA on March 9, Ayton would score a career-high 32 points with 14 rebounds. In the Pac-12 Championship game against the United StatesC, where the Wildcats defeated the Wildcats 7–61, he'd tie a career high for points the next day. During the tournament, Ayton will be named the Pac-12 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Ayton was named both the Pac-12's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, as well as a member of the All-Pac-12 first team (in terms of both regular and election through the Associated Press) and the winner of the Karl Malone Award at the end of the year. He was also selected as a first-team All-American. In addition,, Ayton was one of three freshman to be a member of the All-American First Team, partnering Marvin Bagley III and Trae Young for the most consensus first Team members in a season.

Ayton revealed that if not the top-tier lottery pick after Arizona's humiliating loss to the University at Buffalo in the Round of 64 of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament, he planned to forego his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2018 NBA draft, where he was likely to be a top-tier lottery pick. Ayton announced on April 26, 2018 that he had signed BDA Sports' Nima Namakian.

Professional career

The Phoenix Suns selected Ayton as the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft on June 21, 2018. He was the franchise's first No. 1 in his history. The 1 pick in their history. Never before had the player selected with the first overall pick from a school and college where he played in high school and college before moving to the NBA. Ayton joined the 2018 NBA Summer League Suns squad on July 1, 2018, completing his rookie-scale contract just five days later. In a 92-85 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Ayton scored ten points and eight rebounds in his Summer League debut on July 6, Ayton's first appearance in the Summer League on July 6. In four games played and named a member of the All-Summer League Second Team, Ayton had a double-double of 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. In five games with the Suns, he averaged 18.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. He led all NBA players in points, rebounds, blocks, free-throws, and field goal attempts near the end of the season.

Ayton made his NBA debut in the season opener on October 17, 2018 with 18 points and ten rebounds, as well as a season-high 6 assists, a steal, and a block with 36 minutes played as a starter in a 121-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Ayton made history by releasing these stats in their first game since Lew Alcindor in 1969, as well as the third player since Oscar Robertson in 1960. In a 123-103 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Ayton recorded a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds (alongside 5 assists). In a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on October 27, he scored 24 points on near-perfect shooting (12/13 shots made) along with 5 assists. He was the second rookie in 40 years (first being Adam Keefe) to score at least 12 shots with a 90 percent or higher field goal percentage. In a 107-98 loss to the Toronto Raptors, Ayton had a double-double of 17 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. In a 122-118 loss to the Denver Nuggets on December 29, Ayton later set a new career high of 33 points alongside 14 rebounds. Ayton appeared in every game for the Suns during his first season as a regular athlete, save for one. In the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend, Ayton was selected as a member of the World Team for the Rising Stars Challenge. Ayton set a new record for most double-doubles ever filmed by a rookie in franchise history on March 27, beating Alvan Adams' rookie record of two double-doubles. However, Ayton suffered his left ankle against the Memphis Grizzlies three days later, bringing an early end to his rookie season. Blake Griffin and Karl-Anthony Towns were the third rookie in a decade to record a double-double in their rookie season. Ayton was named one of three finalists for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 2019 NBA Awards at the conclusion of the season. Ayton was selected to the 2019 All-Rookie First Team on May 21, 2018.

Ayton was suspended for 25 games after testing positive for a diuretic, in breach of the league's anti-drug policy. In a 120–99 loss, he returned from suspension against the Los Angeles Clippers on December 17 putting up 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ayton was then sidelined for the next five games due to a sprained right ankle, before returning to the bench on December 30 in a 122–116 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. In a 120–112 victory over the New York Knicks on January 3, 2020, he returned as a starter proper, though as a power forward. Ayton became the team's starting center again on January 16, a few more games later. In a 121–98 victory over the Knicks, he scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds. He was the first Suns player to play 20/20 (first player since Amar'e Stoudemire in terms of points and rebounds), as well as the youngest player to have 25+ points and 20+ rebounds in the Madison Square Garden. In a 133-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on January 28, Ayton scored a season-high 31 points. Ayton was announced to return to the Rising Stars Challenge for the World Team two days later, but he only knew Amar'e Stoudemire and Devin Booker as an announcer and sophomore, but he would not play due to a left ankle injury, eventually being replaced by Nicol Melli. In a loss to the Denver Nuggets on February 8, Ayton scored 28 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. He was the fastest player to reach 1,000 rebounds in 94 games in franchise history, as well as the fourth-quickest player to reach 1,000 since 1992. In a 112–104 victory over the Chicago Bulls on February 22, Ayton matched his career of 28 points and 19 rebounds. Ayton returned to play in the resurgent season's bubble games on July 31, with 24 points (including 2/3 three-point shooting for his first professional three-pointers made) and 12 rebounds in a 125–112 victory over the Washington Wizards after suffering an ankle injury against the Toronto Raptors on March 3rd. He appeared in 7 of the team's 8 games in the 2020 NBA Bubble to lead them to a 6-0 start, giving the Suns their first 8-game winning streak since the 2009–10 season, with a 34-39 record.

Ayton will return from the team's three-game suspension (due to COVID-19 protocols in the middle of January) with back-to-back nights as the team's top rebounder and scorer on January 18 and 2021 after struggling on the offensive end earlier this season (primarily focusing on defense). In a 109-103 victory over the Houston Rockets in January 20, Ayton had 26 points, 17 rebounds, and a career-high 5 blocks. He was the first Suns player since Shawn Marion in 2007 to score at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a single game, as well as the first other Suns player to do it in the last 30 seasons. Phoenix will earn their first playoff appearance since 2010.

In a 99–90 victory over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, Ayton made his NBA debut on May 23, scoring 21 points on 10-of-11 shootings to go along with 16 rebounds. Ayton defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 104–103 to take a 2–0 series lead in Game 2 of the Conference Finals, with a buzzer-beating, game-winning alley-oop dunk, and 14 rebounds. In Game 4 of the Conference Finals, Ayton scored 19 points, 22 rebounds, and 4 blocks, defeating the Clippers 84–80. Ayton led the Suns to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993 in Game 6 of the Conference Finals. Ayton won 118-105 over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. He had 22 points and 19 rebounds. The Suns went on to win by 2-0 in the series, but they lost the series in six games.

Before the season, Ayton and the Phoenix Suns were unable to commit to a rookie contract extension. In a 125–116 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 23, 2022, Ayton scored a career-high 35 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds. Ayton and the Suns finished the regular season with their best overall record at 64–18. In a 114-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs, Ayton scored a playoff career-high 28 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and tied his playoff record with 3 steals. In a 121–114 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Ayton logged 25 points and 8 rebounds in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on May 2, 25 points and 8 rebounds. The Suns jumped to a 2–0 lead in the series before losing in seven games.

Ayton became a restricted free agent in the offseason after struggling to reach an agreement extension with the Phoenix Suns. He signed a four-year, $133 million contract sheet with the Indiana Pacers on July 14, 2022, the first in league history. The Suns matched the Pacers in terms of speed. Ayton, 20, 2022, signed the Suns' multi-year contract on July 18, 2022.

National team career

In the 2016 Centrobasket, the national basketball championship of FIBA Americas, Ayton dominated the Central American and Caribbean subzone, where he averaged 11.1 rebounds per game.

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