(Photo by Ashley Landis-Pool / Getty Images)
Deandre Ayton sabotaged the season with a suspension of 25 games. He almost did it again with a missed COVID-19 test in the bubble, putting the Phoenix Suns in danger again.
Piece two. No reductions. His caution is officially a liability.
To save their credit, the Suns rescued Ayton from permanent embarrassment on Monday afternoon, extending their unbeaten streak to six games with a 128-101 victory over Oklahoma City. But this is a roll-your-eyes kind of moment. Today, most of his teammates know better than to trust him in basketball situations with high charges.
Look at the mess he made on Monday:
As tipoff knew, the Suns did not know if / when Ayton would delete protocol. She started a must-win game without him, with excitement on a whim, with national media paying unusual attention, with Dario Saric forced into a starting role.
They performed because of it. She looked distracted and unglued. They fell flat behind.
The Suns were happy to play an Oklahoma City team that rested all the outstanding players except Chris Paul. They were lucky that their mission coincided with another NBA team that really did not care so much about winning on Monday, just like the Heat on Saturday.
Depending on the lineups they have had in the last two games, the Suns clearly run the risk of an asterisk accompanying their air record in the bubble. The quality of the competition has become more questionable as the playoffs grow closer, as they have to deal with playoff teams taper off at the finish. That is a fact that they can not control, and one that does not require an apology.
Still:
If the Suns had lost this game, this faux pas would have followed Ayton for the rest of his career. It would have been the day he for the second time in one season pierced the bubble of excitement running through his team. Just like he did with the suspension for a banned diuretic that came in the wake of a rough Opening Night victory over the Mavericks so many months ago.
Banning diuretics are often used as masks. It’s not the kind of suspension you often see in the NBA. Just like failed protocol and missing a COVID-19 test in a bubble.
Suns head coach Monty Williams tried to free Ayton in his post-game press conference, as if he would miss a COVID-19 test before the main game in five seasons was perfectly normal, within a league that has otherwise treated everything else about bubble protocol in breathable detail.
Williams struggled for his player because he was forced into a difficult situation. He did not want to punish the rest of the Suns players who promised them to play hard in a bubble, those who reminded them to take their COVID-19 tests. He did not want to teach a lesson at the expense of Arizona, including fans who consumed these bubble games on the edge of their seats.
Williams even tried to explain that he almost failed to test himself with all the commotion, only to grow testy with a reporter attempting a follow-up question.
Williams also stumbled upon his player as the curtains fell in sports journalism, where most mainstream media no longer convey the juice to hold teams accountable. And it happened because Williams could use this outcome to his advantage, by cheating on Ayton in private, while making it seem like he was cutting the player off for a while, by protecting him in the media, and thus to protect its brand and its image.
But he clearly put Williams in a bad spot, he had to decide to take penalties on the fly while at the same time preparing for the biggest game of the season, a game in which Ayton was happy to participate. Whoever processes his makeup test should get a gold medal for speed. Many residents in this state are almost not so happy.
Truth be told, it’s another dumb incident in Ayton’s controlled career, where the only constant different levels of disappointment seem to be.
Save me the apologists who say he is young and growing. He is also a professional athlete who earns nearly $ 10 million a year. And you wonder when he will learn this to take all this more seriously, including the livelihoods of the people around him.
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