Sometimes Brandon Ingram would sneak into the gym this summer, even when his coaches wanted their players to rest. He knew he had work to do and Ingram dedicated himself to it all summer long.
What resulted was a player who changed dramatically from the shy, rail-thin 19-year-old whom the Lakers drafted second overall in 2016. He’s stronger, louder and more comfortable.
“My confidence is sky-high,” Ingram said, uttering a sentence he never could have delivered convincingly a year ago.
So much of the focus about the Lakers will be on point guard Lonzo Ball, whom the Lakers selected second overall out of UCLA in June.