Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Coach Walton Says Lakers’ Ingram Has Point Guard Ability

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton insists rookie Brandon Ingram has some point guard instinct.

The 19-year-old’s position is listed to be a small forward, however, he started at the point guard spot for the Lakers in three games, and has the playmaking role in the team’s second unit.

In the final game of the Lakers in the summer league, D’Angelo Russell was out, which led the coaching staff to test Ingram at the position.

 

”The passes that he saw, the plays that he saw, and the way he was able to get his teammates the ball was the way that you see point guards do it,” said coach Walton of the promising Ingram, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. ”They can still attack the rim while they’re surveying what’s happening and find whether it’s a simple pass or a more challenging pass. You don’t see a lot of non-point guards being able to do that type of stuff.”

The No. 2 overall pick of the 2016 NBA draft claims he played point guard in high school.

”I played [point guard in] youth basketball, AAU basketball,” noted the former Duke Blue Devil. ”When I was in high school I played point guard. Since high school I didn’t play point guard until I got here.”

 

Ingram has averaged 7.6 points, 2.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in 31 games played so far this season for the Lakers. Though he’s somewhat inconsistent in his rookie year, he has shown promise.