When Deandre Ayton received a lob pass from LeBron James during the Los Angeles Lakers game on Tuesday, he had previous experience to lean on -- from when he was 16 years old.
James, making his season debut after missing 14 games due to sciatica, was posting up Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams when he spun to his left toward the basket and tossed an alley-oop to Ayton. The 7-foot center dunked it for his sixth point of the game and James' third assist.
After the game, the 27-year-old revealed that he told James, 40, a "fun fact" about the play.
"I said, 'that's my second alley-oop from you. The first one was when I was in eighth grade at your camp,'" he said, laughing. "So, yeah it was kind of crazy, you know. Seeing all of that, so it was fun."
James laughed and asked Ayton about when the play happened.
While this marked the first time the two suited up as NBA teammates, James had played alongside Ayton when the center attended the 2014 LeBron James camp in Las Vegas. Ayton, who graduated high school in 2017, was a rising sophomore.
"I remember the play and everything. He was court hopping and playing with the campers and I remember the one play of him in the drill with me," Ayton said. "And he threw that alley-oop, and I finished it. I couldn't believe he threw it. And here I am again, you know, can't believe he threw the lob."
Ayton finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while James had 11 points and 12 assists as the Lakers beat the Jazz 140-126.
