The black and gold sign in the corner of the Staples Center, where the 2019-20 NBA championship banner will eventually hang, says “Stay tuned, Lakers family”.
Before the Lakers switched to Anthony Davis, they had been telling their fans to “stay tuned” for years. That’s the nature of reconstructions, lottery after lottery with young player after young being celebrated as the next piece that will put your team one step closer to a title.
It is impossible to know what would have happened if general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers had decided to stay in tune with their young players, if they had tried to continue to develop Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart instead of switching them.
While the banner that will come at the Staples Center is proof that the Lakers made the right decision by casting their future for Davis, Ingram, in particular, is a special piece for another team that is trying to find its own championship glory.
Although the uniform is different, the look is exactly the same: the arms of noodles that are not thicker than any of her braids, the tiara and long legs gliding through the Staples Center as if it were 2018 again.
But the version of Ingram who took the field with the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night is a very different player than the one who left, the potential being realized at alarming rates as he tries to build an All-Star season that ended with him winning the most improved player award.
“He is a very, very committed worker, very committed to becoming a very good player, very trainable, a great teammate. Come and work hard every day, ”said new Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy, in a pre-game videoconference. “There was no surprise. It’s all right. It was as good as advertised, which was really good. “
Last season, Ingram’s breakup was fueled by a season of three-point monsters, the 1.80m striker transforming into a high-volume deep threat that made almost 40% after three years of being a reluctant three-point shooter. points with the Lakers.
Although those numbers dropped earlier in the season, his plays and rebounds increased as he showed offensive skills that led the Lakers to take him to second place in the 2016 draft.
Highlights of the Lakers’ 112-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
It was all on display early Friday, with Ingram hitting eight of nine shots in the first half, including a silky, medium-range spinner over Kyle Kuzma – the kind of movement that apparently justified the five-year extension and $ 158 million he signed with the Pelicans in November.
Ingram hit just one of six shots in the second half to finish with 20 points, and the Lakers managed a 112-95 victory. But, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before the game: “Their team is better than the [4-6] record suggests. ”
Along with 20-year-old Zion Williamson, the # 1 choice of 2019 that exposed some of the Lakers’ internal holes created by JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard coming off-season, 23-year-old Ingram gives the Pelicans their core for life without Davis. Ball, who was in knee pain, did not play on Friday, with Hart as the starter.
“He just kept getting better,” said Lakers point guard Alex Caruso, about his former teammate Ingram. “Even last year, he started taking long strides before leaving LA … And I know the worker he is because I saw him work every day before and after training, and I’m sure he does the same thing in off-season. He seems to be one of those guys who just has that impulse and that love for getting better and being in the gym and working on his craft.
“I’m not surprised that he’s there. Maybe surprised by how quickly he got there, but this is probably just proof of how hard he worked. “
The Lakers got what they wanted when they left Ingram for New Orleans, and the golden banner that would soon be hung at the Staples Center is proof.
But it came at a price – and Ingram liked to remind the Lakers what they had to pay for the championship to happen.
Three lessons from the Lakers’ victory
- After struggling to enter the Pelicans, the Lakers’ defensive intensity skyrocketed in the second half, helping them burst New Orleans.
- Alex Caruso’s impact extended beyond the box score, but something measurable, his kick, continues to impress. He hit all three shots.
- Even on a bad night for Anthony Davis (five out of 16 shots), the Lakers managed many goals thanks to six double-digit players.