NBA Rumors: Brandon Ingram Reveals Advice From Lakers Legend Magic Johnson Regarding His Development
Despite failing to acquire another superstar to pair with LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2018-19 NBA season with the young and promising core of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. Of all those players, NBA fans have the highest expectation on Ingram, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
After a disappointing rookie season, Brandon Ingram managed to establish a huge improvement in his performance the following year, making most people believe that he will be the Lakers’ secondary superstar next to LeBron James. Unfortunately, as of now, Ingram hasn’t lived up to expectations. This season, the 21-year-old small forward is averaging 15.2 points. 4.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 47.0 percent shooting from the field and 32.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Those numbers are okay, but Brandon Ingram himself knows he should do better. To make things more complicated, statistics show that Ingram is not a good fit with LeBron James. Per NBA, Ingram’s averages per-36 minutes is significantly better when he’s not sharing the court with James.
In a recent interview with Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell on Lakers Voices, Brandon Ingram revealed that he had a conversation with Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson about his performance this season. Johnson advised Ingram to be patient regarding his development and told him to enjoy the game rather than pressuring himself.
“I actually talked to Magic maybe a week ago I had the same conversation with him about just being patient,” Ingram told Trudell, as transcribed by SB Nation’s Silver Screen And Roll. “He was just telling me, know ‘it’s gonna come.’ With all the work that I put in this summer, just let it come and just have fun playing basketball. You really don’t want to listen to everyone (about) playing basketball, because everybody is going to tell you what you want. But to hear it from a guy that’s been through it is better.”
Brandon Ingram says his favorite player was Kevin Durant, but that he grew up imitating Kobe Bryant. https://t.co/MT93qiyLxE pic.twitter.com/5k8UhVOFEK
— Silver Screen and Roll (@LakersSBN) December 10, 2018
Brandon Ingram admitted that he’s not the type of person who always listens to what people say about playing basketball. However, things are different when it comes from the mouth of an NBA legend like Magic Johnson, who is considered one of the greatest Lakers of all time. As of now, it seems like Ingram still has the full trust of the Lakers’ organization. Still, it remains a big question how long the Lakers are willing to wait for Ingram to develop into a legitimate superstar in the league.
