Even though the Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling of late, that hasn’t stopped Brandon Ingram from playing some of the best basketball of his young career.
Coming into the season, the Los Angeles Lakers had very high hopes for their young forward Brandon Ingram. After a tough rookie season, Ingram put in a lot of work this offseason to get stronger and improve his jump shot.
President Magic Johnson did not shy away from setting the bar high from Ingram, as he wanted Ingram to average 20 points per game this season. While Ingram isn’t quite at that number this season, he is getting close and really starting to play well.
So far this season, Ingram is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field. This is a huge improvement from last season, as Ingram shot just 40.3 percent from the field in his rookie season.
With an improved jump shot and an aggressive mindset, Ingram has been a more dynamic scorer for the Lakers this season. One of the reasons why Ingram has seen his scoring averages increase as well is because of his ability to get to the free throw line more. With his aggressive mindset, Ingram is attacking the basket and is beginning to get more foul calls. Compared to last season, Ingram has nearly doubled his free throw attempts per game.
A few games ago against the Golden State Warriors, Ingram had arguably the best game of his career. In the narrow loss, Ingram totaled 32 points against the defending champs, and he went toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant, who many compared him to out of college.
In the month of November, Ingram was able to average 16.3 points per game and shot 48 percent from the field. To end the month, Ingram was able to score in double figures in seven straight games.
So far in December, Ingram has continued to play well, as he totaled 18 points against the Houston Rockets and 20 points against the Denver Nuggets. While averaging 20 points per game for the season is still a stretch, Ingram certainly might be able to accomplish that in a calendar month.
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Seeing how well Ingram is playing shows exactly why the franchise values him so much. Also, it is a good reminder that rookies like Lonzo Ball can have a tough rookie season and still become great players. Even though Ingram still has a while to go to reach his true potential, he certainly appears to be heading in that direction.