The Los Angeles Lakers, and mainly young players such as Brandon Ingram, had to deal with plenty of over recent weeks. In addition to trade rumors, they witnessed former teammate D’Angelo Russell earn a selection to the All-Star Game as a replacement for Victor Oladipo.
Ingram and Russell were on the Lakers one year, during the 2016-17 season, before Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets as a means of creating salary cap space and gaining a first-round pick.
Russell has had a breakout season for the Nets this year, and it earned him his first All-Star Game nod, to which Ingram was very excited about. “That’s an amazing accomplishment for him,” he said.
“Through all the negative comments that’s been made about him and he just seems like he’s blocked it all out on social media and everything else,” Ingram said. “He’s blocked it all out and he’s having a chance to just play his basketball game, get into his arsenal and do what’s best for his team. So congratulations to him.”
Although Russell, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. have all excelled in new situations, Ingram doesn’t necessarily consider it necessary for success.
“Everybody’s different. Everybody has different situations,” he said. “Julius is playing really well, Jordan Clarkson is playing really well, Larry Nance is playing really well. Everybody has different situations of opportunity and doing what they can do on the basketball floor.”
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