Brandon Ingram is fresh off scoring a career-high 40 points against the Brooklyn Nets, one-upping star Kyrie Irving in a 135-125 loss on Monday. Yet the New Orleans Pelicans wing is not quite satisfied yet, hoping to reach the 50-point mark against former head coach Luke Walton and his Sacramento Kings next.
Ingram spent three seasons under Walton with the Los Angeles Lakers and recently bumped into him at the gym of The Dominick, a plush hotel in SoHo, where the Pelicans and Kings were staying prior to facing the Nets.
Ingram couldn't help but joke about his former coach:
“He’s always putting a fake ‘tough guy’ on,” Ingram said after seeing Walton in the gym, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Ingram said Walton made a recommendation when they met at the hotel:
“He just said I need to get my cardio up, that I’m looking sluggish going up and down the court.”
The lanky 6-foot-9 wing would go on to drop 40 points in a losing effort, shortly after their talk. Ingram wants to do even better against Walton:
“I’m waiting to drop 50 on him in Sacramento,” Ingram said.
Competitiveness aside, Ingram appreciated Walton's advice early in his career — making him become a better shooter, which has paid its dividends now that he's in a contract year.
“He just told me he really liked how I’m playing,” said Ingram. “I always remember Luke telling me if I was able to shoot the basketball, I would be a really, really good player in this league. If I didn’t know how to shoot, I would be average. So I took that into my offseason.”
The fourth-year wing has combined his length, athleticism, and improved shooting to make him a terrifyingly deadly scorer and an improved all-around player — now averaging 25.9 points per game and an early candidate for the Most Improved Player award at season's end.
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