Vastly Improved Ingram Wins Most Improved Player Award

It's been four years since Brandon Ingram was selected as the second pick in the 2016 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. While his three-year stint with the Purple and Gold was filled with ups and downs plus the injuries hat slowed his growth as the next big name in the league, many still believe that we haven't seen the best of Brandon Ingram in the NBA.

Then, the Lakers sent Ingram packing for New Orleans during last year's blockbuster offseason that saw Los Angeles acquire Anthony Davis. It turned out to be a blessing for Ingram as it allowed him to reach new heights in his still young NBA career. While the New Orleans Pelicans had the top pick in last year's NBA Draft in Zion Williamson, it was Brandon Ingram who led the team in scoring during the 2019-2020 regular season by averaging 23 points in the same season when he was selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career. To top things off for Ingram's first season in New Orleans, he was named the 2019-2020 Kia Most Improved Player. Ingram was the first New Orleans player to win the award which honors the player who made drastic improvements from the previous seasons.

Ingram received 42 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and finished with 326 in the race for the award. He beat Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat (38 first-place votes and 295 points) and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (12 first-place votes and 101 points). 

In 56 regular-season games that were played until March 11, 2020, Ingram averaged 24 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a steal in 34 minutes. In the same time span, he made a total of 137 three-pointers which is more than the combined total of threes he made with the Lakers when he made 127 made threes in three seasons.

Now that's a big improvement. 

Photo is from The Bird Writes