The Los Angeles Lakers are already showing their faith in rookie, Brandon Ingram by giving him the locker that previously belonged to Kobe Bryant
Much of the news surrounding the Lakers has involved free agency, which began on July 1, from fans being upset about the Timofey Mozgov signing to others jubilant about the re-signing of Jordan Clarkson.
With Summer League quickly approaching, news will start to shift to the young core and their play on court but the team made a big statement even prior to the start of play by giving Kobe Bryant’s old locker to the rookie, Brandon Ingram.
I'm hearing that Kobe Bryant's locker at the Lakers' training facility now belongs to Brandon Ingram. Symbolic, or something like that.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) July 5, 2016
Reported by Mike Bresnahan, formerly with the LA Times, now working with Time Warner Cable, symbolically the move represents the “passing of the torch” moment that fans were waiting for all last season.
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While fans would have preferred to see Kobe himself usher in the new era, something which he practically did in his last game with a giant bear hug of the Lakers’ young trio, the simple fact that the organization took it upon themselves to give the spot once held by Bryant to Ingram instead of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson or Julius Randle speaks directly to their faith in the young star from Duke.
Now that the Kobe Bryant era has come to its conclusion, the young players will have a chance to prove themselves and show who is the true Alpha Dog on the team. Judging by personality, it was assumed that Randle would fill this role, however, based on the organization’s aforementioned decision, Ingram is also a likely candidate.
Prior to the draft, Ingram mentioned his underrated ability to lead as something that teams would be glad to have so we’ll see how his teammates respond to the prospect of being led by the new guy, especially seeing how he’s the youngest.
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Ingram seems to have a laid back personality and wouldn’t represent the vocal leader a la Kobe Bryant but a changing in leadership style could be exactly what the new look Lakers need during this ongoing rebuild.