Deandre Ayton isn't exactly the most vocal player out there. This is exactly why it came as a bit of a surprise when the Phoenix Suns big man delivered a passionate speech for his teammates in the fourth quarter of Game 3. The Suns were down big against the Milwaukee Bucks, and this prompted Ayton to come out with a fiery message on the sidelines.
Suns star Devin Booker has now shed some light on the now-viral clip of an emotional Ayton intensely addressing his teammates during a timeout. According to Book, the entire squad understood what Ayton was trying to do at that point in time, and that no animosity resulted from the heated moment:
“I don't think we were playing as hard as we could have been at that time, and that's what he communicated amongst the team,” Booker said, via Duane Rankin of azcentral. “So, nobody takes it personal. Nobody gets mad at somebody for doing anything like that. I think it just brings our team together even more and we see what he's talking about.”
Here's a look at the clip in question wherein a clearly frustrated Ayton had a few choice words for his Suns teammates:
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As you can see, Ayton had a bit of an emotional outburst here. As Booker expressed above, this was quite understandable considering how poorly the Suns played in their Game 3 blowout loss against the Bucks.
Ayton himself opened up about the controversial incident, explaining what the motivation was behind his uncharacteristic show of emotion:
“This is the finals,” said Ayton in recounting his passionate and fiery message to the team. “We’ve got to come to play. This ain’t no first round, second round where you can just hope for another chance. Nah. Everything is important.”
Ayton's fiery speech proved too little too late for the Suns as they fell to the Bucks in Game 3. Then again, this might just be the type of motivation Phoenix needs as they enter Game 4 on Wednesday. Right now, every single person on that roster knows that they are just two wins away from becoming NBA champions.