LOS ANGELES_Not once this season has a Los Angeles Laker smiled as brightly at the prospect of speaking to a gaggle of reporters as Brandon Ingram did Saturday morning.
Ingram finally was getting some practice time. He had a reason to smile.
"Back smiling again," Ingram said. "Happy to be out here, light shooting, trying to ramp it up a little bit this week."
Ingram strained his left groin on March 1 against the Heat when Miami's Justise Winslow collided with him and kneed him in the groin area after a whistle. Ingram has not played since then, but he hopes to practice again in New Orleans, which is the next time the Lakers will practice.
While some Lakers fans took exception to the play, Ingram has, at least publicly, kept a cool head about it.
The day after the injury, he said he wasn't sure whether or not the move was intentional.
On Saturday, with his spirits high, Ingram joked about it.
"Actually I should have told some of the guys to go after him (Friday) night," he said, mischievously. "I did see him last night and he played really well last night, but I wish we could have gotten that win last night _ and revenge."
In his spare time since suffering the injury, Ingram has gotten a chance to see his team from a different perspective. He watched Friday night's one-point loss to Miami with an eye toward what he might have done if he were in the game.
"I would have shot the ball," Ingram said. "I would have shot the basketball. Make or miss I would have had the confidence to shoot the shot."
It's given him a new vantage point on some of his teammates, too.
"I watch every night. If (Julius Randle) gets the basketball _ how strong he is and some of the baskets he makes going to the basket and seeing that no one can really stop him," Ingram said. "You know exactly what he's going to do but no one gonna stop him. Knowing how good Kyle Kuzma has been on defense lately and his individual defense. A lot of guys are just stepping up and over the few months has gotten some guys are really, really good."
He's ramped up his work in another arena, too.
"I'm a little fashion guy," Ingram said. "I think I need to get back to basketball. I'm doing a little overspending a little bit."
