Lakers News: A Different Ingram Becomes Inspirational Story For LA's Season

Second-year forward Brandon Ingram has enjoyed an impressive 2017-18 season for the Los Angeles Lakers with a sharp increase in points, rebounds and assists.

But on Tuesday night, a different Ingram had Staples Center in a frenzy.

Andre Ingram, who has a side job as a math tutor, dropped 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting in his NBA debut — a 105-99 defeat to the Houston Rockets. With the crowd cheering him on, Ingram became among the NBA's most inspirational stories.

The 32-year-old rookie put on a show, knocking down 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point arc. He also had three rebounds, three blocks, one assist and one steal. It was quite a stat line for a player who had spent more than a decade bouncing around the G League.

Ingram found out Monday that he had been called up to the Lakers after 10 years, 384 games and 9,836 career minutes in the developmental league. The 6-3 combo guard checked into the game with 1:53 left in the first quarter, with his first bucket coming off a three-point attempt.

Early in the second quarter, he showed he wasn’t afraid of contact, sinking a mid-range jumper while being fouled by Rockets big man Clint Capela.

The Virginia native, who played college ball at American University, was active on both sides of the court. Making the most of his time on the court, he was active on two defensive efforts against Rockets center Nene that lead to success fast breaks.

His last bucket came off another three-pointer with less than 50 seconds left in the game. The shot gave him the highest scoring NBA debut for a player over the age of 30, according to Basketball-Reference.

"It was excellent," Ingram said after the game. "Once we went out as a team for warmups, I just felt some electricity out there. It was amazing. The crowd, the lights, it was just once in a lifetime. It was awesome."

Staples Center fans were aware of Ingram's story, encouraging him with "M-V-P" chants while he was at the free-throw line during the second quarter.

Ingram's performance also caught the attention of Laker great Kobe Bryant, who posted on Twitter: "LOVE IT" along with Ingram's highlights.

Rockets guard Chris Paul told reporters about his conversation with Ingram during the game.

"I told him 'much respect,'" Paul said. "Ten years grinding in the G League, finally get an opportunity and to play like that — that's pretty special."

Ingram said there was even an electric atmosphere in the warm-ups.

"You could feel something in there," said Ingram. "MVP chants [while at the free throw line] — that's just crazy. Like I said [to myself], 'Make the free throw, make the free throw, make the free throw.'"

The performance in the penultimate game of the season was a bright spot to an otherwise dismal Lakers season. The Lakers have the 11th-best record (34-47) in the Western Conference and have not reached the playoffs since 2012-13.

Ingram’s story is somewhat reminiscent of another player who got a late shot at the NBA. In October 1996, Donald Whiteside, at age 27, earned a roster spot on the Toronto Raptors after bouncing around smaller leagues and not long after serving as a history of Catholicism teacher at a Chicago high school. Whiteside averaged 2.2 points and 1.3 assists in 27 games in the 1996-97 season.