Los Angeles Lakers: Remembering Andre Ingram’s debut

Every NBA fan remembers G-League veteran Andre Ingram’s impressive debut for the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a heart-warming moment for everyone.

Up until 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers had Kobe Bryant on the team. Then, ever since 2018, LeBron James has been the organization’s focal point. The dark era in between, had very few bright spots, one of which was Andre Ingram.

T’was the 10th night of April. 2018 and the Lakers who had long ago lost any hope for a playoff appearance, were taking on the No. 1 seeded Houston Rockets in Staples Center.

Due to some injuries, but mostly for the sake of experimenting, the Lakers decided to call up Ingram from their G-League team, the South Bay Lakers. Little did they know, that this decision would immediately have the rest of the league awe-struck.

See, where Ingram’s story differentiates from other G-League call-ups, is that no player has ever shown the persistence that Ingram did. His hard work and dedication finally paid off, which is a great lesson to all audiences.

After four years in college and a physics degree, 10 years in the G-League and a part-time job as a math tutor, the phone call from Magic Johnson was a godsend.

After all the anticipation, it was time for Andre to step on the basketball court and make his long-awaited NBA debut. Facing the NBA’s best team, record-wise, would only make things worse for him. Little did they know, the veteran had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Ingram enters the game after getting cheered and immediately gets to work. Pulls up from 3-point range for his first-ever field goal attempt, and sinks it in. After making a pair of free throws on the team’s next possession, Ingram pulls up once again from three, splashing his way towards his 8th point in one minute.

A few possessions later, he gets the ball in his hands, pulls up on a contested shot from the elbow, nails the shot, gets fouled, makes the free-throw. The entire Staples Center is going crazy, as MVP chants begin going his way.

Ingram would end the game with a total of 19 points, three blocks and three rebounds, while shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. He even hit a clutch 3-pointer to bring the game within reach for the Los Angeles Lakers. This story just doesn’t write itself!

Among players making their debut after the All-Star break, Ingram’s 19 points were the most we’ve seen since 1953. Just imagine his career statline if he retired after this one game.

As one would pretty much expect, a debut like this created havoc around the association, with fans, coaches and players reaching out to Ingram and congratulating him on his journey.

In his three days as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, Ingram would earn more than half of his G League salary for the entire season, which was $19,000.

Unfortunately for him, this impressive debut wasn’t enough to grant him a spot on an NBA roster. He returned tot he South Bay Lakers and would join the Los Angeles Lakers once again during the 2018-19 season, an experiment that didn’t pan out quite like the first one.