The Portland Trail Blazers got a 105-103 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, doing so without their starting center Deandre Ayton. Despite being scheduled to return to the lineup against the Nets after being out for almost a month with a knee injury, Ayton didn’t even show up in the arena.
Explaining Ayton’s unexpected absence, Blazers’ head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters that the player was unable to get out of his house in time due to ice.
Portland was struck by a blizzard, which apparently wreaked havoc on Ayton’s neighborhood. The 25-year-old player attempted to get through “sheet of ice” for several hours with no success even after being provided help by members of the Blazers organization.
You can’t blame Ayton for not being prepared to battle Portland’s harsh weather conditions. After all, he spent almost his entire career playing in places with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. He played high school basketball in San Diego, California, college basketball in Tucson, Arizona, and then spent the first five years of his pro career with the Phoenix Suns.
Ayton hasn’t been as dominant in the 2023-24 season as the Blazers hoped when they acquired him in a trade with the Suns. The first-overall pick in 2018 is averaging a career-low 13.1 points to go with 10.8 rebounds.
