After six years in the NBA, Ingram's first playoff game wasn't ideal. With Crowder's top defense and the Suns' all-team chase and interception, he scored 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting in the game, only giving up 4 assists but making 5 turnovers.
In a post-game interview, he admitted that the team was still a bit naïve, admitting that he had encountered difficulties, but also praised the substitute lineup without humility: "The Suns have a lot of strong defensive players, physically very tough, they are very good at me and C.J. defense... But our game wasn't without highlights, our bench players played well, chasing a lot of points in the third quarter, Varan and Nance grabbed a lot of rebounds in the frontcourt, and each player worked hard to contribute... We're playing the playoffs for the first time, and we're going to make adjustments. ”
Throughout the season, the Pelicans do best of making adjustments. After all, in September last year, everyone thought that Ingram's goal for the new season would be to play a supporting role in a system with Zion Williamson at the heart of the attack. But after Zion's injuries, weight, and off-court troubles gradually soaped up, the Pelicans seemed to be labeled a bad team at once. After the team started with 1 win and 12 losses, no one believed that there was still hope for this team. All people just want to see jokes about this team, see them lose more goals, watch David Griffin lose his job, watch Zion's transfer rumors, watch Ingram struggle in the mire and then turn his efforts to save the team into yet another data brush. Only the Pelicans' players and coaching staff still have last hopes for the team: because Ingram hasn't given up yet.
In the absence of Zion, Ingram was caught in almost every match by his opponents, but he never complained for half a sentence, but found an effective way to deal with it. After a stamina early in the season due to a change of coach and a hip injury (no games for Ingram this season, the Pelicans are 7-20), he started in December and played the best overall performance of his career. And the place where he leads the team is not only in the game, but also on the training ground. At the end of each training session, he will practice with his teammates to help them adapt to the tactical system of the new coach Willie Green as soon as possible and find their place in the team.
Pelican rookie Trey Murphy III was amazed at his efforts: "There are a lot of top-paid and acclaimed players in the league like Ingram who, once the team gets into trouble, always get tired of losing quickly and then find an excuse like an injury to stop playing. But Ingram is not that kind of person, he gives every day, not only to improve himself, but also to help us. ”
In early November 2021, the young New Orleans Pelicans were in the midst of their grueling road trip, and Murphy didn't quite fit in with the league, scoring for the first time in his career against the Kings. After flying with the team to Golden State, Ingram invited Murphy to his hotel room to watch the video of the last game together, help him make suggestions, and find his problems with the game. As Murphy pushed the door in, he saw Jose Alvarado in in His room watching the video.
The improvised video lesson didn't look immediate, with indwelling Ingram's Pelicans losing the Golden State Warriors by 41 points on the road. But the effort was subtle, and the Pelicans slowly reversed their decline from December onwards. Overcoming injuries and a disastrous start to the season wasn't easy, but Ingram did. He often invited the team's youngsters to practice with him, and after the workout, he invited them to dinner at his house or restaurant, so that he could get deep into the team's newcomers. When you see the Pelicans' youngsters talking about Ingram in their post-game press conference, you can see their overflowing love and even admiration for Ingram. Ingram Quaker Murphy never expected to get his words and deeds every day: "He was always willing to take time out to help us young players. Stars at this level are willing to sit down and talk to you as equals, which always benefits me a lot. ”
Alvarado should also be at least one administrator in the group: "Since I came to the Pelicans, Brandon has always regarded me as his little brother. He's a superstar and he doesn't have to do that for me, but he's really a good guy and I'm lucky enough to make friends like that. ”
After the midseason trade, the new Pelicans' core trio was Ingram, 24, McCollum, 30, and Valanciunas, 29, but under Ingram's leadership and Willie Green's coaching, a growing number of young players became an important part of the team. As the season progressed, the more performances Trae Murphy, Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado, Jackson Hayes and Najib Marshall played, the better the Pelicans performed. In the last two most crucial games, the young people withstood the test. After the third quarter against the Clippers, Willie Green's blood-boiling speech to them allowed the Pelicans to complete an incredible comeback.
"We've just taken their strongest punch and we're only 10 points behind now and there's one more quarter left in the game. Hold up your damn heads to me! We practice hard every day for this moment. We will not give up, we will fight to the end! ”
The Pelicans really fought to the end. Alvarado and Murphy stepped forward to help them get through the danger, but the person who made the team survive until that moment was Ingram.
With 27 points against the Spurs and then 30 points against the Clippers, Ingram's efficiency and prolific make it difficult for every defender to overwhelm. In what may be the most important two games of his career so far, Ingram showed tremendous improvement in the three years since he came to the Pelicans: In his first season with the Pelicans, he improved his jump shot, followed the times at the suggestion of Alvin Gentry, shot a large number of three-pointers, and was also selected as an All-Star; in the second season, under the guidance of Stan Van Gundy, he began to learn to improve his big picture, acting as the team's possession forward through his height and vision, taking on the organizational responsibilities of the Pelicans Then it was the third season when he quickly integrated into Willie Green's system, in addition to the points and assists on the court, his performance in key games, key moments, his ability to read games, body language on the pitch, the way he copes with stress, all of which shows that he has taken him to a new level, and the 24-year-old forward is no longer the sharp soldier who only focuses on himself, but becomes the leader who really carries the team on his shoulders.
Willie Green even compared Ingram to Paul Pierce in a post-match interview: "Ingram is the new 'truth.'" He had been waiting for moments like this. In him, I saw everything I could expect from a player and a person. ”
Winning these two games not only helped the Pelicans win a playoff spot, the opportunity to learn from the best teams in the league, and the capital to negotiate with the Zion team, but also wrote a lot of color for one of the most exciting seasons in pelicans history, allowing the winning culture to continue to grow in New Orleans.
First the soap opera about Zion, then the bumpy start last fall, fans at the Smoothie King Center saw the young team grow rapidly under their noses, forging ahead through countless adversities. It sounds a bit comical to discuss these topics of winning, culture and perseverance for a 36-win team, but it's a small miracle of Ingram's efforts. When everyone looked at each other coldly and thought they were hopeless, he still maintained his faith and never wavered in his determination. When he bladed the Lakers and Clippers, standing on the floor of the Staples Center where he had fought for three years — now it should be called the Crypto Tennis Arena — and spun around and back to the original starting point, the former Los Angeles outcast finally turned into a butterfly, completed the most refreshing revenge, and screamed for his hard-won victory, wondering how los Angeles fans would feel when they witnessed this moment.
As a witness to all this, Larry Nance Jr. lamented a lot: "I left Cleveland last summer to join a playoff team. When I came to New Orleans, I knew we were going to succeed. No matter who is on the field and who the opponent is, in my eyes Ingram is the strongest player on the field. I've played in Los Angeles with Ingram before and I've seen how hard he really is. If we were scheduled to train at 10 a.m., Ingram would always arrive at 8 a.m., and when we came to the training ground, he was already sweating profusely every time. One of the two hardest-trained players I've ever seen in my life is Ingram. He trains like this every day, and when I see him working so hard, I think, I'm going to do everything I can to help him. ”
And we actually know who the other player he said was.