Suns C Deandre Ayton donates Puma gear to Phoenix YMCA kids
Dec 19, 2020, 12:29 PM | Updated: Dec 21, 2020, 10:37 am
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 18: Deandre Ayton attends the PUMA Hoops HQ kickoff where Walt "Clyde" Frazier signs the first ever life long contract with PUMA on June 18, 2018 in Brooklyn. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for PUMA)
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for PUMA)
After moving to the United States at the age of 12, one of Deandre Ayton’s outlets was playing basketball at the local YMCA in San Diego.
“I never really had a gym,” he said on Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf on Friday. “My school didn’t have a gym at all and we always walked to the YMCA.”
Now, Ayton is working to pay back what he gained from the YMCA.
This week, the Phoenix Suns center donated Puma gear to about 40 kids at the Chris-Town YMCA.
“It was one of those things I always wanted to do, always being around that type of community, and that was one the things closest to me in giving back,” he said.
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This isn’t the first time Ayton and Puma, his sponsor, have teamed up to donate to those in need.
In 2019, Hurricane Dorian killed more than 70 people in the Bahamas and caused at least $3.4 billion in damage to the country, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
That September, when the Puma RS-X DEANDRE shoes were released, the brand announced that $25 of every sale from the signature shoe would be donated to Ayton’s home country, according to The Undefeated.
Ayton is going into his third season on the Suns. Over his first two years, he averaged 17 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field.
