Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram Matches Luka Doncic in Unique NBA Record

Brandon Ingram has established himself as one of the top players in the league after his performances last season got him an all-star nod and the Most Improved Player trophy. While he has a superstar teammate in Zion Williamson, the Pelicans are the Brandon Ingram show at this moment.

BI has shown impressive scoring ability and has been helping the Pelicans have a strong start to the season. A coach like Stan Van Gundy won’t be interested in tanking for a pick, so we can expect this team to make a strong push for the post-season this time around. Ingram’s performances are reflecting that.

Ingram has matched Luka Doncic in a unique NBA record. He became the first player since Luka last season to have 80 points, 20 rebounds, and 20 assists to open the season. Considering Ingram doesn’t nearly have the usage rate that Luka has, this statistic is wildly impressive.

Ingram scored 24 points in NOLA’s season opener against Toronto. He followed it up with back-to-back 28 point performances against the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. He has had 22 rebounds in these three games and 20 assists.

Brandon Ingram: The real star of the Pelicans?

While the narrative will always be around Zion, nobody should forget what Ingram can do. Zion has pure ability based on freakish athleticism.

There is no stopping Zion when he charges into the paint. However, it isn’t the same situation for BI. Ingram is a lanky scorer that operates in a very Kevin Durant type way.

He is a sweet-shooter, can drive into the pain, and score from basically anywhere on the court. He has started hustling defensively as proven with his increasing rebounding numbers. His passing may fall off, but even if he can average 4-5 assists a game, it is more than enough for this team.

Ingram is locked up for the foreseeable future, so it will be interesting to see how he and this Pelicans team progress.