Brandon Ingram did the right thing in the wrong way during Saturday’s fistfight between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.
While intentional violence to injure someone is something that is never encouraged in any sport, Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram standing up for his teammate Rajon Rondo during his scuffle with the Houston Rockets was the right thing to do.
There were several other ways for Ingram to have handled the situation besides flailing haymakers at the back of Chris Paul’s head. But, being supportive of your teammates is something that will gain you the respect of your teammates very quickly, even in the toughest of situations.
We all remember during last season on Nov. 17 when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got into a skirmish with Tyler Ulis and Josh Jackson near center court, with Lonzo Ball walking away during the altercation. Lonzo received quite a bit of criticism for a passive approach to everything, with a Lakers teammate eventually having a word with Lonzo about the situation.
To reiterate, Lonzo should NOT have gone over and started punching, but completely avoiding the situation altogether is generally looked down upon by players.
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After one of the worst fights in the history of sports known as “Malice at the Palace,“ the NBA made some changes to rectify their image in the eyes of the public. Since then, the NBA has recovered its public image and become more popular than ever, but it does not want players running around punching every time there is an altercation.
That would mean all the work done to improve public image from 2004 will have been all for nothing. There were other ways that Ingram could have gone to the aid of Rondo when he was going at it with Chris Paul without throwing a single punch.
The perfect example of standing up for a teammate without escalating the situation was when Lance Stephenson grabbed Ingram right after his run-in with James Harden.
This action showed he had Ingram’s interests in mind by trying to keep him out of trouble and keep his teammate out of the conflict. Lance did not throw any punches while involved, but anybody who watched the fight could see that he had Brandon Ingram’s best interests in mind when stepping in.
The suspension Ingram receives will undoubtedly have some impact on the new-look Los Angeles Lakers, as they are still working out the kinks, and playing together is the best way to build team chemistry.
Not to mention the exceptional amount of $158,816. The respect he gained from his teammates will last far longer than any suspension the NBA can hand out.