Ingram's Scoring Drive Comes Foremost From Inside

By Kevin Ding - Senior Writer

The amused look on Brandon Ingram's face showed the extent to which he feels he has been rechristened.

"It's like I don't have a first name," said Ingram, the corners of his mouth curling up at the realization. "It's really ‘B.I.,' ‘B.I.,' ‘B.I.' Even my fans call me ‘B.I.' The commentators call me ‘B.I.' That's the name they gave me as soon as I got here."

The Lakers' second-year small forward doesn't recall being called by his initials while he was at Duke. The "B.I." concept did float around a little back in his high school days.

"But I haven't heard it like I've heard it now," Ingram said.

It's just another way for Ingram to be likened to Kevin Durant, who goes by "K.D." Basketball observers—including Ingram and Durant, themselves—can't help but be struck by the "slim-ilarities." And the improvement in Ingram's game as a prime NBA scorer this season only furthers those ideas.

Ingram goes up for a shot against the Warriors on the night he scored his career-high 32 points

"He could average 25 right now if he wanted to," Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball said of Ingram.

Durant, it turns out, averaged 25.3 points in his second NBA season.

Ingram is at 16.1 points per game. Part of it is due to the Lakers' communal style of offense; part of it is that Ingram believes—despite all his progress—he could be clearly more productive right now.

"I've made a jump, but I still feel like I could play a lot better. Right now," Ingram said. "I can play better right now. I know I'm going to be really, really good in the future if I stay healthy and I continue to work on my game, but I always try to stay in the present to see how good I can be right now. I'm trying to make sure I use every single practice, every single game."

This is where it should be noted that Ingram's growth chart doesn't mirror the sweet-shooting Durant's in one way that few realize.

You might think that the skinny Ingram's willingness to crash toward the basket time and time again this season is a learned tactic. It's logical to see it as akin to a lean, skilled boxer coached to mix it up inside and trying to follow his corner's instructions to become a brawler.

He could average 25 right now if he wanted to. Lonzo Ball

Here's the truth: Ingram's natural game is to take it to the rack.

"For me," Ingram said, "it was getting back to the way I played over my whole career."

Ingram needed, for one, to get stronger to handle NBA-level contact. He had to hit a few more jump shots to get guys to respect his outside threat. He has also learned quickly how to apply change-of-pace and change-of-direction moves before straight-line runs to reach the NBA paint.

So now he is driving and driving and driving because that high-percentage inside game just feels right. It needs to be known that Ingram embraces physicality in a way that belies his spindly frame.

"That's the way I always played. It took me games and repetitions of doing it over and over again [in the NBA] before I could actually start doing it," Ingram said. "Just getting more confident, getting more repetitions in it, continuing to do it. Once I saw I could do it, I just wanted to do it over and over again. Then I came in and wanted to practice it, and I just repeatedly did it. I wanted to do it over again every single day."

Who knew the "B.I." could rightly stand for "Beast Inside"?