Brandon Ingram wants to be the Lakers’ vocal leader

This is a little inside baseball, or I guess inside basketball, but for all of Brandon Ingram’s rookie season if a reporter wanted to get usable audio from an interview with him, they had to get their recorder as close to him as possible because of how soft spoken he was.

Maybe he was more comfortable and louder with his teammates, and maybe he wasn’t, but whatever decibel he got to with them last season, he’s focused on increasing that in the Lakers’ upcoming campaign.

“This offseason, I’m trying to be the hardest worker on the court and really attack my weaknesses. I have a different mentality, a different focus, coming in every single day trying to be a leader by example as well as vocally,” Ingram wrote in a blog post promoting BiPro USA, a protein supplement he endorses.

While I have no idea if protein also helps a player get louder on the court and don’t really feel like doing the research, Ingram focusing on being heard would be a giant change for the sophomore forward. Ingram seemed to be making strides towards that goal during Las Vegas Summer League, when multiple teammates credited him for being like a coach on the floor during the one game he played in and during practices throughout the tournament.

Ingram was also noticeably much more at ease fielding questions from reporters following the game, answering confidently and loudly enough that all recording devices could pick him up. While that’s obviously not the most important part of Ingram’s job or even close to it, if it translates to more vocal leadership in the locker room as he continues to develop than it could be a big deal for the Lakers.

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