EXCLUSIVE

Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram ain't ruling out the entertainment industry ... so says his dad, who tells TMZ Sports his son is open to listening to pitches, as long as it doesn't affect his basketball career.

We talked to Donald Ingram -- father of the #2 overall pick -- about the different opportunities available to a young star athlete in Tinseltown.

His response ... they're not ruling anything out. But breathe easy, Lakers fans ... Ingram made it CRYSTAL CLEAR that his 18-year-old son's main focus is his NBA career.

“Playing in a market like this, he will have the opportunities to have outside work in entertainment," Ingram told us, "If Brandon has downtime and it doesn’t affect his game, he will take those opportunities into consideration."

Donald says Brandon is more likely to start off small ... possibly doing, "a couple commercials here and there."