Brandon Ingram showed flashes of stardom throughout his tenure in Los Angeles, but he never materialized into the player the team dreamed of when they drafted him second overall in the 2016 Draft.
At least, not while he was wearing the Purple and Gold.
In his first 56 games with the Pelicans, B.I. showed amazing growth, averaging career-highs in points (24.3), rebounds (6.3), and assists (4.3). In Zion’s absence, he did an admirable job leading the team, and he’s a major part of the reason they got an invite to Orlando.
His play has drawn so much attention, in fact, that Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said he’d be disappointed if he didn’t win Most Improved Player.
“I’ll be very disappointed if he’s not the Most Improved Player, because he took a tremendous jump this year, in making the All-Star team and just overall, being that guy we could count on at the end of the game,” Gentry said, via Pelicans team insider Jim Eichenhofer.
Alvin Gentry on Brandon Ingram: "I’ll be very disappointed if he’s not the Most Improved Player, because he took a tremendous jump this year, in making the All-Star team and just overall, being that guy we could count on at the end of the game."
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) July 18, 2020
Ingram has improved almost every aspect of his game this season and at just 22-years-old, there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue the trend.
At the very least, he deserves the benefit of the doubt. We’ll see what he’s able to bring in Orlando.
