Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart appeared visibly frustrated with Deandre Ayton during their Friday matchup against the Phoenix Suns.
A clip of a few Lakers defensive lapses went viral on social media after the team’s 113-110 loss at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz. The slow-footed Ayton had trouble fighting over screens, leading to a trio of uncontested three-point makes for the Suns.
Fans couldn’t help but notice Smart shooting daggers at Ayton after a couple of the makes.
Marcus Smart was VISIBLY frustrated by Deandre Ayton’s defense on multiple occasions last night 😬
— LakersMuse (@LALMuse) February 27, 2026
(Via @iztok_franko)
pic.twitter.com/2nDuQOvi0V
Smart, the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year, clearly has high standards when it comes to that side of the floor. He’s one of the few plus defenders on a Lakers squad that ranks dead last in defensive rating among playoff-contending teams through two-thirds of the season.
Some fans, however, argued that Smart was equally at fault for some of those defensive miscues, with Ayton being made to be a scapegoat for their poor team-wide rotations.
most of the plays are on marcus. a big shouldn’t be chasing guards. wtf are we doing here
— BO (@theKofacts) February 27, 2026
Nah, Only 1 of those 3 plays is on Ayton. The other 2 are on Marcus. Why the big chasing down guards? That's on you dude. That's like asking Shaq to chase down Steph Curry. Are you serious?
— wheesper (@wheespersnap1) February 27, 2026
Ayton may have been demotivated to try on defense because of frustration about his role in Lakers head coach JJ Redick’s offense. The Lakers center took offense to allegedly being utilized like Clint Capela, which drew a response from Capela himself.
The Lakers have virtually been a .500 team since their 15-4 start to the season, going 2-5 over their last seven games. The cracks within the team are seemingly starting to show as the losses start to pile up.
