Brandon Ingram, one of the key players on the Lakers will be missing the rest of the Summer League due to leg cramps. This is a setback to the second year player who was improving. It surely is a disappointment to Laker fans as they wanted to see Ingram play more.
The incident
Ingram went down Friday night as he was shooting a shot that nearly went in to win the game. Silence filled the arena as Brandon Ingram was still on the ground clutching his right leg. This was far from what the Laker fans wanted to see before the NBA season starts. Fans let out air as they saw Ingram get up off the ground and walk towards the bench.
Magic Johnson, not wanting to risk anything, was giving them the signal that his night was over and that he was not going to go back in.
It looks like the organization is being cautious by not risking or letting anything detrimental happen to him. The forward will miss the remainder of the Las Vegas Summer League. The Lakers ended up losing the game to the Los Angeles Clippers in overtime.
Gradual improvement
The player from Duke has shown some flashes of brilliance in his game since entering the NBA. The only thing he needed to get better was in shooting. It looks like he has gotten stronger and bigger since entering the NBA. He has gotten better at being able to get to the rim and in shooting around the perimeter.
The second overall pick in the 2016 draft shows a lot of promise and resilience.
There are questions about what has happened to Ingram. Hopefully, it is nothing serious, but it could just be a precaution to keep him from getting injured before the impending season. The hot weather and the fall could have just caused the cramping.
Ingram scored 26 points last night against the Clippers and was the Lakers top scorer for the game. He is still a young prospect, turning 20 in September.
Brandon talked to reporters on Friday night and seemed to be just fine. There is a lot of evidence that the Lakers organization is just being cautious.
Lakers pickups
The Lakers look to be a different team going into next season filled with talented young players and some veterans.
They acquired big man Brook Lopez, who is a proven big man in the league. They also got the 27th pick in the draft. They got rid of Timofey Mozgov and D'Angelo Russell in the trade. Mozgov had a huge contract and was not very productive in the season, so it was right to get rid of him. As for Russell, he was not the supposed leader that they thought he could have been. He also had trouble fitting in with his immature antics of snitching. Instead they looked to draft Lonzo Ball, who is the new leader or star for the organization.
Lonzo Ball struggles
Lonzo Ball struggled last night against the Clippers, he was doing anything but "balling." Lonzo struggled to shoot from the three-point line and in finishing at the rim.
It was only normal because it was his first start. Expectations were high for him, but now they will be looking to be lower. Lonzo ball will be looking to get better in practice and in the summer league.
Regardless of his shooting, he was pretty confident in shooting the ball still. He did show some brilliance in passing early on in the game although. Ball was able to get to the rim, which was a good sign.
Laker fans have a lot to hang their hats on. They are surely excited to see Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball play in the regular season, along with their other talented players. Ingram just suffered a setback, but he could have a great season with the Lakers.
