On May 28, Brandon Ingram walked through New Orleans’ new airport en route to his departure gate, a unique experience for at least two reasons: First, the Crescent City’s often-bustling suburban travel hub was nearly empty, the result of a pandemic keeping many would-be travelers at home. Second, everyone – airport staff, airline employees, passengers including Ingram himself – was wearing a mask, making it much easier than normal for an All-Star from the local NBA team to go about his business mostly unnoticed.
Still, how many 6-foot-9, athletic-looking men with braids do you see standing in the security line at Armstrong International? Despite his face covering, Ingram, 22, was nonetheless recognized by some Pelicans fans as he awaited a flight. Fairly well known among basketball aficionados when he was traded to New Orleans in June 2019 after playing three seasons for the high-profile Lakers, even casual Big Easy sports followers now know his face – even if it’s partially obscured. That tends to happen when you exceed all reasonable expectations during your first season in a new NBA city, as Ingram has resoundingly done over the past year.
“Ingram has been one of the breakout stars of the 2019-20 season,” wrote Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, while extolling New Orleans’ young core as the NBA’s best. “It’s hard to imagine a trade for a superstar who was leaving anyway working out better for a team than moving one year of Anthony Davis for what will likely be Ingram on a longer term contract.”
“A year and a half ago, people were saying he was going to be a bust,” three-year teammate Josh Hart said of the former No. 2 overall draft pick’s rapid ascent. “Now the same people are saying he’s an All-Star.”
Like fellow first-time NBA All-Stars such as Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo, Ingram’s rise in ’19-20 has him being frequently mentioned as a Most Improved Player candidate, based partly on him upping his scoring average from 18.3 to 24.3. The Duke product is also generating career highs in virtually every other key category.
“I’ve been with him the last three years, and I’ve just seen him improve every year,” point guard Lonzo Ball said. “Now he’s putting it all together.”
After being sidelined for the final 19 games of last season due to blood clots in his right arm – the Lakers ended up 37-45, 11 games out of eighth place – Ingram is relishing the opportunity to finish what he started this time with the ’19-20 Pelicans.
“Being how last year went when I couldn’t finish the season, this year was just about me going out there and showing where I belong and showing that I can excel in this new space,” Ingram said, alluding to coming to the Big Easy.
Seeding games to watch
Ingram won’t face his former NBA team, the Lakers, in this stage of competition, but if the Pelicans achieve their goal at Disney World, he’ll compete against Los Angeles in the Western Conference quarterfinals, in the 1-8 matchup. “That’s crossed everybody’s minds, people around the organization,” Ingram said July 6. “But from a player standpoint, our focus is on one game at a time. Each one of these games are very important for us, to try to get into the playoffs. Then we’ll worry about if we’re going against the Lakers.”
In the interim, NOLA’s first seeding game is July 30 vs. Utah, a team that received an eyeful of Ingram this season. The NBA’s 13th-leading scorer deposited 49, 35 and 33 points against the Jazz in three head-to-head matchups, representing three of his seven best offensive outputs of ’19-20. He’s nearly been a 50-40-90 guy in the Utah games, at 52 percent from the field, 48 percent from the arc and 88 percent at the foul line. Ingram is averaging 39.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists against the West’s fourth-place club. He averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 boards and 5.0 dimes in two wins over Memphis, the Pelicans’ Aug. 3 opponent.
