I don't know if you remember an old player signed by the Lakers a few years ago, unlike other signings in the free market, the Lakers' signing is completely out of love, they just meet a player who waited 10 years just to play in the NBA, this player is from the development league, he is Andre Ingram, a man who Kobe Bryant has to make movies for him.
As a sub-league of the NBA, the development league has always had a lot of fluidity of players, because their salaries are not high, and most of the players in the development league may go directly to foreign leagues or retire after finding that they have no opportunity to play in the NBA. But after joining the development league, Ingram, 23, stayed for decades, his hair gray, playing in professional leagues while also working part-time as a basketball coach to subsidize his family, just waiting for an opportunity to enter the NBA. Unfortunately, it was not until Ingram was 33 years old that the Los Angeles Lakers threw an olive branch and fulfilled his dream.
Toward the end of the 17-18 season, the Lakers saw no hope of entering the playoffs and signed the elder Ingram with the Lakers' affiliated team South Bay Lakers on a 10-day contract, giving the 33-year-old veteran the first opportunity to play in the NBA in his career. And the elder Ingram is also very cherished, in the Stride Center debut, he appeared in 29 minutes, 8 shots 6, three-pointers 5 shot 4 of 4 points, the whole basketball world is cheering for him, this is every fan who wants to enter the NBA dream trip. In the next year, the Lakers once again handed in a 10-day contract to the elder Ingram, but this time the 34-year-old's form declined badly, averaging only 0.5 rebounds per game and not scoring.
The old Ingram's NBA journey is over, but he is still a professional player, after returning to the development league, Ingram maintained a 46.6% three-point shooting rate, still able to contribute to the South Bay Lakers, he has the first appearance and three-point shooting in the history of the development league, worthy of today's NBDL signboard. Now, Ingram has also started a new life, in October last year he became the president of the players' union of the development league, although there is no extra money, but it is a threshold that gives him the opportunity to enter the management and later work in basketball-related careers.
In 19 years, Bryant told the media that he was touched by the elder Ingram and hoped to make a movie based on the oldest American player who landed in the NBA. However, last year, Kobe Bryant passed away, the movie has no follow-up, but the Si people have passed away, the living will be more encouraged, the story of the old Ingram is far from over!