Ex-Lakers Draftee Offers Harsh Opinion On Social Media Under Glare Of LA Spotlight

He ain't wrong.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, a 2020 All-Star, wasn't always getting buckets in the Big Easy.

The 6'8" Ingram was selected with the second pick in the 2016 NBA draft out of Duke by your Los Angeles Lakers, and took some time to really develop into what he is now: a versatile, somewhat brittle scorer with impressive length and athleticism and room to grow still.

Though he always had plenty of promise while with Los Angeles, he didn't truly blossom until he had been flipped to his second team as the centerpiece of the Lakers' trade to acquire eight-time All-Star big man Anthony Davis in 2019. LA instantly won a title with Davis, and also appeared in a second Western Conference Finals with The Brow this past spring.

In a conversation with Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times that was presumably about Ingram's Team USA colleague Austin Reaves, the only current Laker on this year's national FIBA World Cup team, Ingram offered a fascinating insight into his own feelings about the glare of the Los Angeles media spotlight with almost an aside about how he thinks Reaves should handle his social media accounts.

“If I was with the Lakers, I would delete my social media,” Ingram said.

It's almost an aside in the larger piece, but it represents an intriguing glimpse at how Ingram must undoubtedly feel about being picked apart while playing for the NBA's glamor franchise in one of its biggest markets.

Since joining the Pelicans in 2019, Ingram is averaging 23.7 points on .467/.375/.858 shooting splits, 5.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks a night. He's also missed an average of 21.3 regular season contests a year, on a team that has made the playoff just once since trading for his services. His defensive issues and health have been the big knocks on his play thus far, but he clearly has the talent to be a special player for years in this league.

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