Gustavo Alfonso Ayón Aguirre (born April 1, 1985) is a Mexican former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He represented the senior

Mexican national basketball team Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

in international

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

competitions. Standing at a height of , he played at the center position. Ayon is a two−time All-EuroLeague Second Team selection.

Early life and college career

Gustavo was born April 1, 1985, to parents Ayón Ayón and mother Linda Ayón. Ayón attended at the

Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla The Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) is a private (Catholic), non-profit university located in the Mexican state of Puebla. Founded on 7 May 1973, it is currently a highly reputed university with an important national ...

, in Mexico, for three years of college. He was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the Mexican College Championship Tournament, in leading his team to the National Championship. Following that season, he signed with

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. However, Ayón never played for the Spartans, instead choosing to sign with a Mexican professional team, Halcones UV Xalapa.

Professional career

Gustavo_Ayon_and_Nene_Washington_at_Orlando_010

Mexico

In the 2006 season, Ayón saw some action off the bench for Halcones UV Xalapa, as the team finished second in the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

. Ayón cracked the team's starting lineup the following season, and eventually led Halcones to back-to-back Mexican league titles, in 2007–08 and 2008–09. He averaged 10.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 2007–08, and improved on that by averaging 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game the following season. In what turned out to be his final game for the team, Ayón turned in a dominant, 24-point, 20-rebound, performance in leading his club to a 94–90 overtime victory over Soles de Mexicali, that clinched their second consecutive league title.

Spain

Following the 2008–09 season, Ayón signed with

Baloncesto Fuenlabrada Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., known as Flexicar Fuenlabrada because of sponsorship reasons, or just as Fuenlabrada, is a professional basketball team based in Fuenlabrada, Spain. The team plays in the Primera FEB and ...

of the Spanish League. In November 2011, Ayón was named the Spanish League's ACB Player of the Month.

NBA

In December 2011, Ayón signed with the

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, after paying

with a $1.5-million buy-out clause. Ayón received a three-year contract, with the last year being a team option. On July 11, 2012, Ayón was traded to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, in a sign-and-trade deal for Ryan Anderson. On February 21, 2013, Ayón was traded to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, along with guards Ish Smith and

JJ Redick Jonathan Clay "JJ" Redick ( ) (born June 24, 1984) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He most recently served as an analyst ...

, for guards Beno Udrih and Doron Lamb, and forward Tobias Harris. On July 25, 2013, he was waived by the Bucks. On July 29, 2013, Ayón was claimed off waivers by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. On February 12, 2014, Ayón scored a career high 18 points, in a 83–104 loss to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

. On February 28, 2014, it was announced that Ayón would miss the rest of the 2013–14 season, following successful surgery to repair a right shoulder injury.

Return to Spain

On September 23, 2014, Ayón signed a two-year deal with Spanish club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

coached by

Pablo Laso Pablo Laso Biurrun (born 13 October 1967) is a Spanish professional basketball coach and former player who is the current head coach for Saski Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was the head coach of Real Madrid for eleven s ...

. In the 2014–15 season, Real Madrid won the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, after defeating

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, by a score of 78–59 in the league's finals. Real Madrid eventually finished the season by also winning the Spanish League championship, after a 3–0 series sweep in the Spanish League finals series against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. With that championship, Real Madrid thus won the triple crown. Ayón was named the

EuroLeague MVP of the Round The EuroLeague MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Round, previously known as the EuroLeague MVP of the Week, is an EuroLeague awards, award of European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level basketball league, the EuroLeague, t ...

, in the first week of the playoffs, in the 2014–15 season, and in week nine of the regular season of the 2015–16 season. On January 4, 2016, Ayón was named the EuroLeague MVP of the Month, for December 2015. On May 6, 2016, he was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team, for the

2015–16 EuroLeague The 2015–16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague was the 16th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the sixth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champi ...

season. In May 2016, he was named the Player of the Month in the Spanish Liga ACB. On July 14, 2016, Ayón signed a new three-year contract with Real Madrid. In May 2018, Real Madrid won the

2017–18 EuroLeague The 2017–18 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague was the 18th season of the modern era of Euroleague Basketball and the eighth under the title sponsorship of the Turkish Airlines. Including the competition's previous incarnation as the FIBA Europe Champi ...

championship, after defeating Fenerbahçe Doğuş in the final game with 85–80. Over 17 EuroLeague games, Ayón averaged 9.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. In June 2018, Ayón helped guide Real Madrid to the 2017-18 ACB Spanish League Championship by defeating Kirolbet Baskonia. In June 2019, Ayón helped lead Real Madrid to the 2018-19 ACB Spanish League Championship by defeating FC Barcelona Lassa

Russia

On July 26, 2019, Ayón signed a one-year deal with Zenit Saint Petersburg of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

and the

. He averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game. Ayón parted ways with the team on July 26, 2020.

Return to Mexico

On September 30, 2020, Ayón signed with

Astros de Jalisco Astros de Jalisco (English: ''Jalisco Astros'') is a professional Mexican basketball team, based in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The Astros are part the CIBACOPA and the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, the top professional basketball league in ...

of the

Puerto Rico

On September 19, 2021, Ayón signed with

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

. Ayón led the

to the Championship of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN) of Puerto Rico. This latest championship is the 16th professional championship for Ayón. On August 20, 2022, Ayón announced his initial retirement from professional basketball. However, in April 2023 he announced that he would come out of retirement to play for

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán () are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. History In February 1958, Venados participated in an international tournament, dubbed the Pan-American Series, against two other c ...

, where he played a single game on April 26, 2023 against Halcones de Ciudad Obregón scoring 7 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.

National team career

Ayón has been a member of the senior

since 2007. He played center for the seventh placed Mexicans at the

2007 FIBA Americas Championship The 2007 FIBA Americas Championships later known as the FIBA AmeriCup (or The Tournament of the Americas), was a basketball tournament held at Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, from August 22, to September 2. It was the thirteenth staging of the ...

, and the fifth placed team at the

2008 Centrobasket The 2008 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2008 Centrobasket, was hosted in Cancún and Chetumal, Mexico. The four semifinalists of this edition qualified for the 2009 FIBA Americas championship The 20 ...

. In 2013, Ayón led Mexico to victory in the gold medal game against

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

at the

FIBA Americas Championship The FIBA AmeriCup (previously known as the FIBA Americas Championship) is the Americas Basketball Championship that takes place every four years between national teams of the Western Hemisphere continents. Since FIBA organized the entire Wester ...

. Ayón was named to the All-Tournament Team, and was named the MVP of the tournament. In August 2014, Ayón led Mexico to victory in the gold medal game against Puerto Rico at the 2014 Centrobasket. Ayón was named the MVP of the tournament. Later that month, he joined Mexico for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. In 2015, Ayón was named to the

2015 FIBA Americas Championship The 2015 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Brazil. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Mexico City, Mexico. The tournament wa ...

All-Tournament Team, after tallying 17.7 points per game (2nd in the tournament), 12.4 rebounds per game (1st in the tournament), 3.5 assists per game (7th in the tournament), 1.3 steals per game (3rd in the tournament), and 1.2 blocks per game (1st in the tournament). In June 2018, Ayón helped lead Mexico to a 78–70 victory over Team USA in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Americas)

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

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Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 43 , , 3 , , 13.3 , , .536 , , – , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 12 , , 0 , , 13.6 , , .595 , , – , , .083 , , 4.9 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .3 , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 26 , , 14 , , 16.5 , , .510 , , – , , .400 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 4.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 135 , , 41 , , 16.7 , , .536 , , .000 , , .504 , , 4.4 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .5 , , 4.7

Playoffs

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 3 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.3

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2014–15† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="5",

, 29 , , 23 , , 18.7 , , .623 , , , , .794 , , 4.5 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , 8.1 , , 11.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , 27 , , 27 , , 26.1 , , .622 , , , , .619 , , 7.9 , , 2.3 , , 1.8 , , 1.3 , , 11.6 , , 18.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , 36 , , 36 , , 20.6 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .699* , , , , .485 , , 5.2 , , 2.3 , , .9 , , .6 , , 9.8 , , 13.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2017–18† , 18 , , 11 , , 23.0 , , .577 , , , , .581 , , 5.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 9.3 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , 31 , , 6 , , 19.7 , , .669 , , , , .542 , , 6.0 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .8 , , 8.3 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Zenit , 26 , , 14 , , 21.4 , , .596 , , .000 , , .582 , , 5.3 , , 2.2 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , 12.5 , , 14.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 167 , , 117 , , 21.4 , , .634 , , .000 , , .587 , , 5.8 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , .7 , , 9.9 , , 14.4

Domestic leagues

References

nba.com The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayon, Gustavo 1985 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Astros de Jalisco players Atlanta Hawks players Baloncesto Fuenlabrada players BC Zenit Saint Petersburg players CB Illescas players Centers (basketball) Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Halcones de Xalapa players Liga ACB players Marinos B.B.C. players Mexican expatriate basketball people in Spain Mexican expatriate basketball people in the United States Mexican expatriate basketball people in Venezuela Mexican men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks players NBA players from Mexico New Orleans Hornets players Orlando Magic players Real Madrid Baloncesto players Sportspeople from Tepic, Nayarit Tenerife CB players Undrafted NBA players Vaqueros de Agua Prieta players 21st-century Mexican sportsmen