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Pelicans 2022-23 Season Preview: Brandon Ingram Not Bothered With Expectations

Brandon Ingram has been working, not worrying about outside pressure or expectations for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Brandon Ingram was straightforward about his approach during Media Day. The All-Star said, "The mentality is always to win, the expectation is to win. Especially for our team. We always kinda believed in each other and what we were doing. So the expectation is still the same. I don't know what's the outside expectation for us, but we're ultimately trying to bring a championship to New Orleans."

Ingram is ready for the season to start so he can show off the summer work. He has not spent a second worrying about the mounting expectations being placed on the New Orleans Pelicans.

"I don't have any expectations. I think when you go in with expectations you lose patience and I know throughout Zion coming back and getting a feel for the game we have to be patient with him getting back into the groove of things and helping him along the way. It was the same thing when CJ came, we had to figure out how to work together. That happened pretty fast but it's going to be something we continue to work with, you know, he signed the contract to be here for a while, CJ's going to be here for a while, so we'll figure it out."

That's not to say there is a lack of internal expectations. This team knows another playoff run is well within reach. In fact, Ingram says the goal is "Championship. If I sat up here and tell you 'second round' I think Willie would give me a call after I finished. Championship. We have the guys to do it, all we have to do is put the work in and continue to learn. But we care about it enough to come in here and keep working, keep listening, and ultimately we wanna win that championship, you know?"

Larry Nance Jr. said that Brandon Ingram is one of the three hardest working players in the NBA. The New Orleans Pelicans do not need to see him in the practice gym all summer. The trust built between the team and Ingram is only matched by his All-Star talent. Add all that into Ingram finally having coaching and roster continuity and there is reason to believe an MVP-caliber season is possible. 

Last year's run helped Ingram become a more respected name nationally but also aided his growth as a leader. It makes Ingram "more comfortable to tap on the guy and tell him exactly what he needs to hear or what I'm feeling. It makes the organization better from a standpoint of we can get more out of guys, we trust each other a lot more from playing with each other last season, going into a few summer workouts, and talking to coach. We trusted each other a lot more. Of course, we expect a lot more out of each other, and we can talk through those things.''

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