Phoenix Suns rookie 7-footer Deandre Ayton declined on Wednesday to comment on high-profile lawyer Michael Avenattiβs accusations that Nike paid his mother.
βTo be honest, I have no comment on that,β Ayton said after Wednesday's shootaround before the SunsΒ (17-58)Β played WashingtonΒ (30-45)Β at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
βIβm not really addressing that right now. I do not know anything about that, but the thing is for me to just focusing on finishing this season strong and just really polishing my rookie season and entering my first summer of the NBA.β
Ayton, 20, has previously denied allegations of receiving payments while he was a high school student. Coming out of Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix as the nationβs top recruit, Ayton went to the University of Arizona for one year, entered the NBA draft and was the No. 1 overall pick.
His name has come up during the ongoing probe into corruption in college basketball as Arizonaβs recruitment of him drew scrutiny when the scandal broke last season. Last month, longtime Arizona assistant Emanuel "Book" Richardson pleaded guilty to accepting $20,000 to steer players to sign with agent runner Christian Dawkins when they went to the NBA.
Avenatti, who has been charged with scheming to extort money from Nike, on Tuesday tweeted that Nike paid Aytonβs mom.
Ask DeAndre Ayton and Nike about the cash payments to his mother and others. Nikeβs attempt at diversion and cover-up will fail miserably once prosecutors realize they have been played by Nike and their lawyers at Boies. This reaches the highest levels of Nike.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 26, 2019
Nike and Arizona, which has a multimillion-dollar contract with the athletic company, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.Β
Avenattiβs tweet came a day after New York federal prosecutors charged the attorney with four counts of extortion and conspiracy for allegedly threatening to reveal evidence that Nike improperly paid high school athletes unless the company forked over more than $15 million, according to court records.
MORE: 'Ask Deandre Ayton and Nike': Disgraced lawyer Avenatti tweets that company paid ex-Cat's mom
Avenatti, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Donald Trump, denied attempting to extort Nike and tweeted "when the evidence is disclosed, the public will learn the truth about Nikeβs crime & coverup."
An ESPN report in February 2018 claimed the FBI intercepted telephone conversations of Sean Miller talking about paying $100,000 to ensure Ayton signΒ with the Wildcats.
Miller has denied the report, saying he never discussed with Dawkins paying Ayton to attend Arizona or met or spoke to Dawkins until after Ayton publicly announced he was coming to the university.
Paul Kelly, an attorney Arizona hired, said at the time there wasnβt a βshred of evidence" to suggest Ayton or his family received money or benefits to ensure he played for the Wildcats.
Ayton is nearing the end of a rookie season in which heβs averaging 16.3 points on 58.6 percent shooting and 10.2 rebounds per game going into Wednesdayβs contest with the Wizards.
Ayton has 37 doubles-doubles as he looks to break the Suns rookie record for most double-doubles set by Alvan Adams in 1975-76, and he is in the running for Rookie of the Year honors with Luka Doncic and Trae Young.
βIβm pleased (with Aytonβs rookie season) and hopefully weβre going to around to see what heβs going to be in the next year, three years from now, five years from now,β Suns coach Igor Kokoskov said.
Kokoskov talked about how big men depend on guards in addressing Aytonβs rookie year, saying βthey just canβt bring the ball up the court. Guards can do that.β
Aytonβs offseason plans may just change that whole way of thinking in Phoenix.
βTaking the ball off the rim and pushing it,β Ayton said when asked about what he wants to work on during the summer. βThatβs what Iβm going to be doing next year. I really look up to Giannis (Antetokounmpo) when he does stuff like that and how he controls the ball in transition. It opens up the floor for everybody. Shooters are in their corners. Itβs unusual for a big man to be dribbling that much.β
Ayton sees it as a way to create shots for shooters when the defense helps on him dribbling the ball.
βThatβs what Iβve been studying a lot,β Ayton said.
Ayton also looks to shoot the 3Β more in games and strengthen his lower body. Heβs only attempted four 3s this seasonΒ β he's missed them allΒ βΒ and has his share of struggles matching up physically with players in the league.
βI got bullied a couple of times by these centers,β Ayton said. βGuards, too, to where I canβt move. Literally. They just showed me ways, like, your legs need to get stronger. Just looking at film and seeing. How did he move me like this?β
Arizona Republic staff writer Anne Ryman contributed to this report.
