Andre Ingram: Never Gave Up
When most people hear the word “no” they automatically give up and move on to the next thing. You have people that have given up on their dreams simply because someone told them no. It’s apparent that people who give up that easily just don’t want it bad enough. The people that give up are the ones we never hear about because they just quit. Then you have people that want it by any means necessary. These people don’t take no for an answer and one of those people just happens to be Andre Ingram.
Andre Ingram played with the G-League’s LA Defenders for 10 years before getting called up to the NBA. Photo lasportsmedia.com
Andre Ingram was a successful player coming out of High School in Virginia where he attended Highland Springs and won a State Championship. He was also named the Richmond Times- Dispatch player of the year as well as its male scholar athlete of the year. Ingram followed up his High School career by playing at American University where he played for four years averaging fourteen points per game all while majoring in engineering. After college he could have pursued his hoop dreams overseas where he could have made good money, instead he chose to join the NBA’s developmental league (now known as the G-League) because it offered more exposure and that is where the Professional Basketball Journey began for Andre Ingram.
Andre Ingram lit the Houston Rockets up for 19 points in his debut game. The 32 year old Rookie had the hot hand. Photo lakersnation.com
Andre Ingram played his heart out for ten years in the G-League. Ten years in the G-League isn’t the most glamorous life to live, you take buses, you fly coach and you stay in budget hotels. The guys that stick it out and go through the rigors really love the game. Not everyone last as long as Andre Ingram did. Ingram has been consistent and came ready to play night in and night out. For that reason, he was awarded with a call up for the last two games of the 2017-2018 NBA season. This is a feel good story if I have ever seen one and the nation seemed to agree as the news about this spread like wild fire. Everyone loves a fighter an everyone loves an underdog even more and cheering someone on like Andre Ingram is very easy to do.
Even Chris Paul went to over to share a few words with Ingram who has played in the G League for the past 10 years. Photo sportingnews.com
No one knows if Andre Ingram will be back on the Lakers roster next season but what he was able to do was just remarkable. How many people do we know that would keep pushing to see his dream fulfilled? How many would endure that G-League lifestyle in order to see their NBA dreams come true? I will be honest, not many would keep pushing the way he did and that in itself is very admirable. This man actually had to tutor kids in math on the side in order to make extra money while he continued to pursue his dream. Although his contract only guarantees him two NBA games he will be remembered forever in NBA circles as his journey has won over many fans and players alike. It’s hard to root against a guy like Andre Ingram who literally put his all into achieving his ultimate goal. I am hoping he gets another chance to crack the roster next season. If that does not work out for some reason it’s safe to say he will go down and be remembered for a long time because of his will to keep pushing and never giving up on his dream which is something a lot of us can learn from.