Lakers News: Ivica Zubac and Brandon Ingram wish the NBA season would just get here already

The NBA is still fully in the doldrums of its short offseason, but the march towards basketball’s return is starting to pick up speed.

The league is slowly letting news about its schedule and new uniforms drip out to keep fans’ appetite for #content whetted now that free agency has died down, and we now know that the Lakers will open their season with a match-up against their cross-hall rivals, the LA Clippers. A bit later in the calendar Los Angeles will host its fellow young pups, the Minnesota Timberwolves, in a showdown between two of the league’s up-and-comers.

It’s enough basketball news to serve as a tease for true NBA and Lakers junkies, a group which it seems safe to say includes Lakers sophomores Ivica Zubac and Brandon Ingram. After schedule details came out Thursday, Zubac voiced his desire for the season to get here soon on Instagram, sentiment pretty much all Lakers fans can empathize with:

Ingram then took to the comments section to reveal why Zubac might be so eager for basketball to return (h/t Silver Screen and Roll Reader and Zubac Instagram correspondent @Medina1889, who got his wish for a new blog):

Zubac struggled in Las Vegas Summer League, but some of that almost surely had to do with style of play that’s faster than any NBA team will play. Ingram could just be gassing up his teammate, but if they’ve been working out together all summer he’s also probably seen Zubac’s progression up close and personal.

Zubac’s next comment also made it clear the admiration is mutual:

Both Ingram and Zubac making strides in their second NBA seasons would be a boon for the Lakers as the clock ticks towards the summer of 2018, when the front office will once again attempt to convince marquee free agents they should want to play alongside their young core. Those young players can’t anything until the season gets here, however, so its safe to say Zubac and Ingram aren’t the only ones chomping at the bit for the NBA to return.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.