10 Years in the G-League Was Long Enough: Andre Ingram

The MLB has a lot of them.  Career Minor Leaguers. The NBA, not so much.  When you have been in the G-League/D-League for 10 seasons and are now 32, I think thoughts go through your head that it might be time to call it quits and making the NBA is unrealistic.  Not for Andre Ingram. Ingram has been playing in the D/G-League for the past 10 seasons shooting lights out on his way to setting the record for most three pointers in a career with 713.  He is 5th on the all-time scoring list for the G-League and certainly a respected legend in those parts. But getting up to the big show is a little different. How would Ingram fair after he got the call that he’s been waiting 10 years for?  I’ll tell you how.

If you didn’t catch the game last night, the Rockets came to Los Angeles to play the Lakers where Ingram showcased all the skills he has.  Ingram started the game 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from 3, getting the Staples Center absolutely exploding with incredible awe. He ended up going 6-8 from the field and 4-5 from 3 finishing with an incredible 19 points in his NBA debut.  A debut that he has been waiting for his entire life. When asked before the game what kept him going he said, “Every season I have genuinely thought, ‘This could be it,’.  That’s why I hung around. That’s why I kept coming back.” Post game he was asked how he felt about the game and responded, “It was once in a lifetime”. Surely it was.  

Ingram isn’t just some amazing story either, this dude can really ball out.  This season in the G-League he shot 47.5% from behind the arc, which on any floor is unheard of.  His career 3P% is 46.1, which is mind blowing. I don’t know why he wasn’t brought to the league with shooting numbers like that but I hope he has some more time left in him and he sticks around. After that great performance that he just displayed, I would not be surprised to see a team pick him up after he becomes a free agent this summer.

Written by Nick Kazandjian