Suns Center Deandre Ayton Called Out by Stephen A. Smith

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has been called out plenty of times this postseason. With their season on the line, there's only one way for him to do so.

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton finds himself as one of the more polarizing players around town. 

Ayton was the franchise's first and only No. 1 overall pick - played his college ball at Arizona and was thought to be a crucial puzzle piece to the Suns' rebuild. In a few facets, his presence in Phoenix just made too much sense. 

Ayton has been part of the recent injection of Suns success seen in the Valley, helping the team reach heights such as the 2021 NBA Finals and a franchise-best 64 wins last regular season. 

Ayton is incredibly efficient on the offensive end, providing athleticism and a bit of versatility at the position along with his size. There's some nights where he easily gathers a double-double and hardly breaks a sweat doing so.

Yet for all that he promises as a young basketball player, his shortcomings are often under the microscope. There's times where his laid back mentality rubs people the wrong way. His playful nature and admitted passion for other interests off the court doesn't help when opposing centers often times dominate around the rim.

It wasn't long ago when Ayton was asked about people consistently questioning his motor.

“Yeah, I don’t know what that is,” Ayton said in response. “Motor? Come on bro. I play both ends of the floor, my name is ‘DominAyton.’ I anchor the Phoenix Suns on both ends of the floor.

“Motor? Really? We’re going to talk about motor … I run on Tesla battery."

Clips like the one in the tweet below don't really help. 

Wth is DeAndre Ayton doing here? Did he forget his job is to get boards? #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/yi4627io3C

— Sweet Lettuce (@Sw33tL3ttuc3) April 30, 2023

The Suns - who currently find themselves down 2-0 to the Denver Nuggets - are in desperate need of a win tonight. No team has ever climbed back from a 3-0 series deficit. 

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has dominated both games played thus far, and NBA analysts such as Stephen A. Smith have had enough. 

"What the hell is going on with you, you don't have a pulse?," asked Smith on First Take. 

"Jokic is giving it to this brother. Nikola Jokic is shooting 50% with 37 points in two games when guarded by Deandre Ayton. Do you not have something to say about that? I mean, you ain't some spring chicken. You're not some novice. You've been around the league a little while. This man is abusing you - he's embarrassing you. Do something about it, damn it. 39 [points] and 16 [rebounds] in Game 2 just doing whatever he wanted to do, just wobbling up and down the court and busting your little you-know-what. What the hell is that about Deandre Ayton?"

Game 3 is tonight - we'll see how much juice is in that Tesla battery.