Ayton complained after the loss: They want to turn me into Capela, but I'm no Capela.

On February 26th Beijing time, ESPN's Lakers reporter McMenamin wrote about Ayton, the Lakers' starting center who appears unhappy with his role.

In the Lakers' close defeat to the Magic, Ayton's performance was not part of the series of errors that caused the loss. Instead, he performed exceptionally well.

The Lakers center scored 21 points on just 11 shots, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and provided the Lakers with an energetic, mobile interior presence against the Magic's tough frontline of Wendell Carter Jr., Paolo Banchero, and Jonathan Isaac.

When asked whether his teammates recognized his effort and would give him more opportunities as a result, Ayton gave a diplomatic response.

"The ball finds energy," Ayton told reporters. "When I set screens in the post, attack the rim hard, and fight for rebounds, they trust me and reward me."

This was Ayton's first 20+10 game in nearly a month, which he believes proves he deserves a more frequent role in the Lakers' offense.

After facing the media scrum, Ayton walked toward the locker room showers and spoke his mind—loud enough for those still in the locker room to hear:They want to turn me into Clint Capela.

Ayton was referring to Capela, now a backup center for the Rockets. A decade ago, Capela helped his team reach the conference finals twice with a blue-collar style: finishing alley-oops, rolling to the rim, and attacking the basket.

"I'm no Capela!"

Although the most talked-about moment of the loss was Luka Dončić passing up a wide-open shot in the final seconds to pass to LeBron James for a desperate, rushed attempt, few noticed how Dončić got that open look.

After a timeout, Ayton perfectly executed the play drawn up by Lakers coach JJ Redick: he sprinted from the backcourt to the left wing, set a solid screen on Magic guard Anthony Black with a lowered shoulder, and cleared a clean passing lane for Dončić beyond the three-point line.

For a No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft (selected two spots ahead of teammate Luka Dončić, three ahead of Jaren Jackson Jr., four ahead of Trae Young, ten ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and thirty-two ahead of Jalen Brunson), being used as a pick-and-roll screener in crucial moments shouldn't be his designated role.

But Ayton has never been labeled a "franchise star." Instead, the perception of him is that of a highly talented but often lackadaisical player—someone who jokes around in the locker room, doing cartwheels, yet disappears for long stretches on the court.

Marcus Smart, who also joined the Lakers as a free agent last summer and has a locker next to Ayton, admitted there is room for improvement.

"I think he's been alright," Smart said this week. "He can definitely be better; we all can. But what I like is that he knows it, and he's working on it. We're all figuring it out; this system is new to everyone. He's giving his best, but he also knows we need him to take another step, and we'll try to help him get there. Still, he has to take responsibility himself."

Perhaps more crucially: whether he can accept the role the Lakers want him to play.After going 2-for-4 and scoring only 4 points against the Grizzlies on January 3rd, he unusually voiced his frustration publicly: "A big man can't feed himself the ball."

According to sources close to Ayton, Redick has been supportive behind the scenes and calmly accepted this complaint. Two days later, in a rematch against the Grizzlies, Redick called Ayton's number on the first play, and that early bucket sparked him to finish with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

"It's an old story for big men," Redick said. "The reality of playing inside is: someone has to pass you the ball. You can't create your own shot."

To survive in the NBA, you also need a certain mentality.

Just like the "Chosen One" tattoo on LeBron James' shoulder, Ayton has a row of bold capital letters tattooed across his back: "DOMINAYTON."

The Lakers are also deliberately fueling that mentality: President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka specially designed a black T-shirt with gold print—half lion, half Ayton's face—and gifted it to the 27-year-old center.The training staff wraps Ayton's water bottle with athletic tape before games, writing in black marker: "DA's Beast Juice—Drink to Unleash the Beast." The Lakers' demand of him is simple: value the dirty work and role as much as scoring.

"At his best, which we've seen a few times, he plays with extreme aggression," a team source told ESPN. "Whether it's setting screens, rolling hard, attacking the rim, crashing the boards after a shot, sprinting back in transition, protecting the paint, communicating, being in the right position, contesting shots, boxing out—these are thankless tasks for a skilled big. But on this team, that's his role. He has to be the guy who does the dirty work."

"That guy is our X-factor," Austin Reaves said to ESPN, pointing at Ayton. "He determines our ceiling."