Blazers C Deandre Ayton misses game after reportedly spending hours trying to overcome ice around home
Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton experienced a snow day against his will on Wednesday.
The big man was ruled out for the Blazers' home game agains the Brooklyn Nets due to his not being able to get to the arena, head coach Chauncey Billips told reporters.
Important details later came from Blazers in-house reporter Casey Holdahl, who disclosed that Ayton was trapped in his home due to a recent ice storm in the Portland area. Ayton reportedly tried for hours to get past the sheet of ice, and the Blazers sent people to help him, with no luck.
Deandre Ayton: OUT (ice).
Ayton tried for hours to combat the sheet of ice leading out of his neighborhood and the team sent people out to help as well, but to no avail, so he is out for tonight’s game versus Brooklyn https://t.co/Oa0Rv3Wbms
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 18, 2024
The fact that this effort apparently lasted for hours is what really makes this situation bizarre. Ayton is 7 feet tall, one of the most athletic people on the planet, with the full resources of a billion-dollar NBA team behind him, a full day-plus of warning and hours to get stuff done ... and he just couldn't get on the road.
Jokes aside, though, driving through ice is dangerous, and it would absolutely be a bad idea to force this if the road conditions really were that bad. And at 10-29, it's not like the Blazers had a ton to lose by being further shorthanded against the Nets. The Blazers lost their other top big man, Robert Williams, to season-ending knee surgery in November.
The team managed to persevere, beating the Nets 105-103 via a last-second floater by Anfernee Simons.
Ayton is in his first season in Portland after a trade brought him over from the Phoenix Suns, a team that plays in a city where this kind of stuff simply isn't a problem. In 24 games, the 25-year-old Ayton is averaging 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 54.8% from the field.
