Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton had a snow day against his will on Wednesday.
Coach Chauncey Billips told reporters that the big man was ruled out of the Blazers' home game against the Brooklyn Nets due to his inability to get to the court.
Important details later came from Blazers in-house reporter Casey Holdahl, who revealed that Ayton was trapped in his home because Recent snow storm in the Portland area. Ayton reportedly tried for hours to get past the ice sheet, and the Blazers sent people to help him, but to no avail.
Deandre Ayton: Out (ice).
Ayton tried for hours to fight the ice sheet leading outside his neighborhood and the team sent people to help as well, but to no avail, so he went out for tonight's game against Brooklyn. https://t.co/Oa0Rv3Wbms
– Casey Holdahl (@CHold) January 18, 2024
The fact that this effort lasted for what seemed like hours is what makes this situation truly bizarre. Standing 7 feet tall, Ayton is one of the most athletic people on the planet, backed by the full resources of a billion-dollar NBA team, plus a full day of warning and hours to get things done…and he managed to not go down the road.
All jokes aside, driving through ice is dangerous, and enforcing it would be a completely bad idea if the road conditions are really bad. And at 10-29, it wasn't as if the Blazers had much to lose by getting shorthanded even more by the Nets. The Blazers lost their other top player, Robert Williams, to season-ending knee surgery in November.
The team was able to persevere by defeating the Nets 105-103 He crossed a buoy at the last second By Anfernee Simmons.
Ayton is in his first season in Portland after a trade brought him from the Phoenix Suns, a team that plays in a city where that sort of thing isn't an issue. In 24 games, the 25-year-old Ayton averaged 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds while shooting 54.8% from the field.
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