Suns big man DeAndre Ayton returned to the court for the first time on Tuesday, in the team’s 120-99 loss to the Clippers, after serving a 25-game suspension for taking a banned diuretic.
Ayton was hit with the suspension just before the season began back in October, after testing positive for a banned diuretic that violated the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
He played 24 minutes in the game, in what was a decent first outing back — scoring 18 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. Before doing so, however, he spoke to reporters regarding how the suspension, and expressed remorse for what happened.
“I know what I did,” Ayton said before the game, via ArizonaSports.com. “It was the biggest mistake, and unintentional mistake that happened in my life and it’s just something to learn from and just build from it. It’s a mistake and everybody makes mistakes.”
He also added this, about his teammates carrying the load in his absence.
“They’ve been playing for me. I owe them a lot. The only thing I can possibly do is just go out there and play my heart out.”
– @DeandreAyton pic.twitter.com/lnaN4bs0G4
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) December 18, 2019
Looks like Ayton is ready to get back to work.
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