PHOENIX – As they were playing the ``Fortnite’’ video game together back in the summer at the NBA’s Rookie Transition Symposium, Phoenix Suns’ center DeAndre Ayton looked down at Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba’s buzzing cell phone and shockingly saw a picture of himself shaking hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Bamba, the No. 6 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, strategically put a picture of Ayton – the No. 1 overall pick – on the background of phone to serve as daily motivation as he was working on his game throughout the offseason. Bamba has since changed the wallpaper, but Ayton still gets a chuckle out of the idea that a fellow 7-foot NBA rookie uses him as a source of motivation.