In his fourth season, Brandon Ingram has established himself as one of the NBA's elite young players. At 22 years old, Ingram has developed into one of the league's most dangerous three-level scorers.

On Thursday, he was recognized for the strides he's made by being named an All-Star. Ingram, who's averaging 25 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, was voted in as a Western Conference reserve by NBA head coaches.

Ingram is the eighth player in Pelicans franchise history to become an All-Star. He joins Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, David West, Jamaal Magloire and Jamal Mashburn on the list.

In June, Ingram was the crown jewel of the trade package the Lakers sent away to acquire Davis. Ingram has thrived in new surroundings. He is 16th league-wide in scoring average. He is shooting 47.1% from the field, 40.4% from 3 and 85.6% at the free-throw line. He has nine games with 30 points or more this season. He hit that benchmark only four times in three seasons with the Lakers.

Ingram has made the biggest strides this season as an outside shooter. He is shooting 40.4% on 6.2 attempts per game from behind the arc. On Christmas Day, he nailed a career-high seven 3s to lift New Orleans to a win in Denver.

“We really just throw it into him and tell him to get a bucket,” Jrue Holiday said. “And that’s what he is. He’s a bucket instantly. To have that type of firepower is huge for us.”

Ingram has worked closely with Pelicans shooting guru Fred Vinson to tweak his shooting mechanics. He has always been able to get to the rim and rely on his smooth midrange game. Honing his 3-point stroke has turned him into one of the game's most complete scorers.

Ingram helped the Pelicans maintain a pulse when the outlook looked bleak early on. No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson missed the first 44 games of the season while he recovered from right knee surgery. Williamson wasn’t the only player who missed extended time. The Pelicans have used 19 different starting lineups in 48 games.

That New Orleans still has a chance to make a run at the postseason is a testament to a weaker-than-usual bottom half of the Western Conference and Ingram’s night-to-night excellence.

“I think his ability from just taking the game over has definitely increased,” Williamson said. “At first, we didn’t really have a closer. As the season went on, he decided to be the guy to step up and be our closer. Y’all have seen him. He’s done a hell of a job with it. I think he’s an All-Star, in my opinion.”

The numbers bear out Williamson’s analysis. Since Dec. 1, Ingram has scored 42 points on 12-of-25 shooting in what the NBA defines as “clutch” situations (last five minutes of the game, score within five). During that time, he is first on the team in “clutch” scoring by a comfortable margin. Holiday is second in "clutch" scoring in that stretch with 18 points.

On Jan. 16, Ingram scored 49 points, a career high, in a win over the Jazz. He appeared to hit the game-winner in regulation, but the Pelicans were whistled for a foul with 0.2 seconds remaining. That allowed the Jazz to get to the free-throw line and force overtime. Ingram scored five points in the extra period to help deliver the win.

“To be honest with you, it doesn’t surprise me," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said about Ingram's career night. "The way he works, the way he has gotten better and worked on his craft, sooner or later, he was going to have a game like this. I thought he did everything we asked him to do.

"I think you’re going to see more of those games like that because he’s worked extremely hard to get to this point.”

On Feb. 6, Ingram will find out which team he's playing on — Team LeBron or Team Giannis. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the leading vote-getters in each conference, will pick teams playground style on TNT.

The All-Star Game is Feb. 16 in Chicago.