Brandon Xavier Ingram (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA All-Star and was named the NBA Most Improved Player in 2020. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in the same season.
Ingram had a successful high school career in North Carolina, where he won state titles each of his four years, and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball. He played one season of college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, where he was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year. After the season, Ingram decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility and declared for the NBA draft. He played three seasons with the Lakers before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019 as part of a package for All-Star Anthony Davis.
Early life Ingram was born on September 2, 1997, in Kinston, North Carolina. He is the son of Donald and Joann Ingram. He has two half-siblings, an older brother, Donovan, and an older sister, Brittany. He shares a father with Donovan and a mother with Brittany. Ingram's father started his career as a police officer and a manager of a local gym, but he is now full-time at a welding plant, where he makes forklifts. Before that, Donald was a would-be hoops star, pushing his way through the semi-pro leagues. When he moved back home to Kinston, his father started playing pickup games with a young Jerry Stackhouse, who was looking to play locally against older and more experienced players to help him elevate his game. Stackhouse, an ex-NBA star and Kinston native, forged a friendship with Ingram's father on the court.
While Ingram grew up in a one-story house on Highland Avenue in Kinston, his brother Donovan grew up in a different house but would spend weekends with Brandon, teaching him basketball. Ingram was able to keep a steady focus on basketball despite a high crime rate in the local community in Kinston. Before Ingram was a teenager, his brother allowed him to play with him and his older friends. He described this experience as "the best thing that ever happened to my game". His brother, known as Bo, went on to play college basketball for South Plains College (2008–2010) and UT Arlington (2010–2012). By the time Brandon reached eighth grade, Stackhouse became Ingram's Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) coach and mentored the young basketball player. Those influences "took me to the next level", said Ingram, whose foundation as a player came from his father. His father was a high school and collegiate referee who stated Brandon "was trained correctly, both mentally and physically. He grew up knowing the rules of the game". Ingram played all four years of his high school basketball career at Kinston High School and helped lead Kinston to four straight state championships during his time there.Brandon Ingram is The Free Press Player of the Year
High school career During his freshman year at Kinston, he came off the bench on the varsity basketball team but along the way his role grew. In his first year with the Kinston Vikings, the team defeated Cuthbertson High School by three points to win the 2012 NCHSAA 2A boys basketball state championship in Reynolds Coliseum. As a sophomore, Kinston defeated Cuthbertson for the second year in a row to win the 2A state title and Ingram averaged 12.4 points per game (ppg), 3.9 rebounds per game (rpg) and 1.5 assists per game (apg). Prior to the start of Ingram's junior year, he began to show improvement during the 2013 summer while playing AAU basketball. After shining for the Stackhouse Elite team, the junior entered the year with high expectations and received a large amount of attention from college coaches who were lined up to recruit Ingram to a Division I school.
In his junior year, Ingram led the Kinston Vikings to its third consecutive NCHSAA 2A state title, where he scored 28 points to go along with his 16 rebounds against North Rowan. During the season, the Vikings went undefeated in their conference with a 26–4 overall record while Ingram was averaging 19.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 assists per game and was named Eastern Regional Most Valuable Player (MVP). During the spring 2014, Ingram represented the Stackhouse Elite for the Norman Parker Showcase at the Suwanee Sports Academy where he earned MVP honors after leading the team to the championship. He averaged 17.9 points per game and 5.3 rebounds each contest and shot better than 81 percent from the free throw line during the Adidas Uprising circuit. After his junior year came to an end, Ingram participated in the NBPA Top 100 Camp on June 19, 2014, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. Later that summer, instead of playing for an AAU tournament in the Atlanta area, he decided to compete with his high school team at the annual East Coast Invitational (ECI), an off-season event in his home state.
As a senior, he averaged 24.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and led the Vikings to a 26–4 record. At the Spalding Hoophall Classic, Kinston pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback defeating Trenton Catholic Academy (56–54) behind Ingram's 22 points. In his final high school basketball game, he was named MVP of the state championship game after scoring 28 points to go with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a win over East Lincoln High School at the Dean E. Smith Center. This made Ingram the first men's basketball player to win 4 consecutive NCHSAA state championships. The Vikings also became the first 2A school in North Carolina history to win four consecutive state titles. Following his senior season, Ingram was a participant in the 2015 McDonald's All-American Game, where he scored 15 points and had five rebounds.ACC Basketball: Brandon Ingram performs well in McDonald's All-American Game
Ingram was rated as a five-star recruit and was considered among the best high school prospects of the 2015 class.Rivals.com He was ranked as the No. 3 overall recruit by ESPN and Scout, as well as No. 4 overall by Rivals. He was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball and Player of the Year by North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association (NCBCA). He also made the Parade All-American team, in his senior season, joining Duke teammate Luke Kennard. In his senior year, he was also named to the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association All-District First Team. On April 27, 2015, he announced that he would attend Duke University and play for the Blue Devils in the 2015–16 season. Ingram said he "probably" would have committed to North Carolina in November if the Tar Heels were not involved in a "far-reaching academic scandal".
College career Ingram began his freshman year of college basketball playing two exhibition games against Florida Southern and Livingstone. In his debut for Duke, Ingram scored 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting against Siena. In the second game, he scored 21 points to help Duke defeat Bryant in the 2K Sports Classic. The Blue Devils started out the season ranked fifth in the nation entering the Champions Classic, an event that matches four of the nation's best programs against each other, before receiving their first loss of the season against Kentucky on November 17, 2015. The same day, Ingram became one of seven freshmen named to the 50-man Wooden Award preseason watchlist. Duke quickly bounced back by defeating Georgetown the following week at the 2K Sports Classic Championship in Madison Square Garden on November 22. The same week, Ingram came off the bench for the second time after being removed from Duke's starting line-up for their game against Yale, scoring 15 points. The following game, he was inserted back into the starting line-up and helped Duke start the season 9–1, which included a seven-game win streak, before falling to Utah in overtime. During a five-game stretch in December, Ingram averaged 21.2 points and 8.8 rebounds while filling in at power forward for injured Amile Jefferson. After recording 24 points and 6 rebounds in a win over Indiana in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge on December 2, Ingram scored 23 points to lead Duke over Buffalo. For his efforts, he received his first ACC Rookie of the Week honor.
On December 12, 2015, Ingram scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a home win over Georgia Southern, and blocked a career-high 6 shots in a home win over Virginia Tech in January 2016. That same month, he scored 25 points and had 9 rebounds in a win at Boston College in his ACC debut. After being voted National Freshman of the Week and ACC Rookie of the Week twice in the month of January, Ingram helped Duke break a three-game losing streak by scoring 25 points to go with 7 rebounds against NC State. In February 2016, he was voted ACC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time after averaging a team-high 21.5 points and added 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists on the week as Duke defeated number thirteen Louisville and number seven Virginia to extend its winning streak to four games. That same month, Ingram was named to the 35-man midseason watchlist for the Naismith College Player of the Year award. In a road game against the number fifth seed and rival North Carolina, Ingram scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to give Duke a one-point win over the Tar Heels on February 17.
As the fifth seed in the ACC tournament, Duke beat NC State in the second round but lost to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals. In the 2016 NCAA tournament, Duke was awarded a fourth seed and won their first-round match-up against UNC Wilmington. After beating Yale in the second round, Duke was defeated in the Sweet 16 by Oregon despite 24 points from Ingram. In 36 games for Duke in 2015–16, Ingram averaged 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 34.6 minutes per game, while shooting 44.2% from the field, 41.0% from three-point range and 68.2% from the free throw line. He finished the tournament averaging 23.0 points to go along with 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the three games. He subsequently earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors and AP All-American honorable mention.Allen named 3rd team AP All-American, Ingram earns honorable mention/ Ingram had one of the best seasons ever for a young player at Duke, ranking in the top 3 among the school's all-time freshman leaders in scoring (third), three-pointers (second) and 20-point games (tied for second). On April 4, 2016, Ingram declared for the 2016 NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.
Professional career Los Angeles Lakers (2016–2019)