Brandon Ingram (Photo : Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey)
In the tradition of what opponents would call "Lakers hubris," Brandon Ingram has triggered the high hopes of their legions of fans.
But it's not without basis as no less than Kevin Durant has paid him the ultimate compliment-and it's what every Laker fan wants to hear.
From a Lakers Nation video, the former NBA MVP who just left Oklahoma to become the Lakers rival in California with the Golden State Warriors,
"He (Brandon Ingram) reminds me of myself, but he's a little farther along than I was at that stage," Durant said. "I feel like if you continue to keep working, he's with a great organization that's going to push him and put him in a good position to be who he is. Continue to just work hard and believe in himself and everything is possible for him. He's a great player. I watched him almost every game this season. I'm a huge fan, first person I can say that I can look at him and feel like I'm looking in the mirror. I'm rooting for him."
From a person like Durant to say that Ingram is the mirror image of himself, it doesn't get any better than that. But it actually does, as KD says Ingram is "farther along" than Durant was.
"He's a little bit more fluid than I was, as far as skill-wise, a little more advanced than I was at that time. I was just running, jumping, shooting threes," Durant elaborated. "But, he could put the ball on the floor, change directions, get to the rim, shoot the pull-up three, so that stuff started to come a little later on for me, but he's a little farther along than I was."
Durant is known to be modest and polite, which is why it's difficult for some to paint him as the villain. Before the Lakers prepare their 17th banner ceremony, they must take that into consideration: Was Durant just being polite when he said that Ingram was "farther along" than he was?
Durant was a beast in his lone college season with Texas. He was a Wooden Award winner with per game averages of 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. If you consider that he compiled those stats in a game with two 20 minute halves and a 30 second shot-clock, that is very impressive to say the least.
Ingram logged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2 assists. While Ingram played with a more structured Duke offense, the gap is still too wide for them to become equals, let alone "farther along" (all data from Sports Reference).
Ingram's game is more refined already and perhaps that what he meant. He has the potential to be an All-Star but probably not as dominant as KD was. Durant was a game-changer and Ingram should definitely model his game after him, but he will not dictate the future of the Lakers franchise the way Durant made the Thunder relevant.
