With his long, lanky frame and sweet-shooting ability, consensus top-two draft prospect Brandon Ingram has drawn a lot of comparisons to the likes of Kevin Durant and Tracy McGrady.
Those comparisons are best-case scenario, but they do make some sense due to Ingram’s skill set. Ingram, however, actually looked up to one of the best scorers of a previous generation.
According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, Ingram revealed that while he has heard the Durant comparisons, he has always looked up to NBA Hall of Famer George ‘Iceman’ Gervin:
Ingram said George Gervin is a player he always looked up to. Said he’s heard Kevin Durant comps, but KD is “way, way ahead” right now.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) June 9, 2016
Ingram taking after Gervin is interesting as Gervin was another player who was pretty skinny, but very long and lanky. That never stopped him from becoming one of the NBA’s best scorers, however, as Gervin averaged 25 points per game on over 50 percent shooting from the field in his 14-year career spanning both the NBA and ABA.
The Lakers would surely love it if Ingram turns into that level of a player while wearing purple and gold. While Ingram joining the Lakers still remains to be seen, Ingram did note that the Lakers organization really made him feel comfortable according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Feeling “comfortable" is what Brandon Ingram will take away most from LAL workout:
"I can say it’s a family around the Laker organization"
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) June 9, 2016
Nothing is guaranteed, but it does seem more and more likely that Ingram will wind up with the Lakers once the draft rolls around. The Sixers seem locked in on Ben Simmons and it seems improbable that any prospect would leapfrog the Duke forward for the Lakers.
Ingram joining D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. would give the Lakers arguably the best young core in the league and an extremely bright future.
