Phoenix Suns center DeAndre Ayton expressed his grievances as an NBA player, which could reflect on his team's supporters.
The 2018 first-overall draft pick thought he was alone taking on the challenges, and when things got complicated, he was being used as a scapegoat.
The 24-year-old has been constantly in trade rumors since the Denver Nuggets defeated them in the second round of the Western Conference.
"I can feel the whole world hating me in a way," Ayton said in a video released by Eyewitness News Bahamas on Twitter.
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"I'm the guy a lot of people point at and I see it and feel it, but mainly what I've been working on five to six days a week since we've lost is just motivating myself to change the narrative of what people think about me. No matter you put it, I feel like I have no fans out there and I can feel it because the whole world is saying it."
He uses this as fuel to fire himself up to get better.
"My goal over the summer is to change the narrative. Just unlock whatever it is and just completely just focus on me and change the whole thing."
New Suns coach on Ayton's role next season
Ayton has been part of the Suns' core since their rebuild, run to the 2021 NBA Finals, and even last year when they got Kevin Durant.
New coach Frank Vogel said the plan is to get him more involved now in an offense with super scorers Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and newly-acquired Bradley Beal.
"I'm off to a great start with him from a relationship standpoint in terms of understanding that if we want him to defend and rebound at an All-Star level, then we're going to have to involve him a little more in the offense. That's just basketball 101, you learn that as a youngster," Vogel said in an interview with Sirius XM NBA Radio during the Summer League.
Related article: Suns General Manager James Jones Energized by New Front Office Structure
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