Lakers Offseason News: Brandon Ingram working with same trainer that helped Victor Oladipo become an NBA All-Star

In his efforts to make another leap during his third NBA season, Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram is hitting the gym with Micah Lancaster, better known as the trainer who helped Victor Oladipo make his first NBA All-Star game this season.

Lancaster posted video of Ingram — who already made massive strides from his rookie season to his sophomore one — working out with him in a facility, promising “special things ahead” for the versatile wing (h/t Coach Pete Zayas of Laker Film Room):

But players work with personal trainers all the time, so some might ask what makes Lancaster so special other than what he did with Oladipo? Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer outlined that a bit as part of his larger feature on Oladipo’s rise:

For 13 weeks this offseason, Micah Lancaster and Joshua Dudley of I’m Possible Training put Oladipo through unorthodox drills that helped him stay low and stop on a dime as a ball handler, and get better at reacting to traps and hedges. Oladipo later worked in August with Noah LaRoche from Integrity Hoops on in-game actions, such as drive-and-kicks in the pick-and-roll, post-ups, and finishing at the rim. The training was designed to complement his gym workouts. If Oladipo was working on hip flexibility and quick-twitch muscle movements at DBC, then I’m Possible helped him translate it to quickness in the open floor, agility in tight spaces, and change of direction.

So basically, it would appear that Lancaster specializes in the minutiae of how to make NBA players better by improving their movement, which is definitely one route Ingram could take as he looks to improve as a driver and defender this summer.

Ingram already made big progress from his first to second season, increasing his scoring and improving his efficiency while playing a bigger role on both offense and defense.

It’s probably too much to expect Ingram to make the same type of progress next season given just how much room he had left to grow after a rough rookie campaign, but Ingram making a few smaller tweaks here and there could help him continue his attempts to become one of the league’s premiere wing players. It looks like working with Lancaster is his next chance to do so.

All stats per NBA.com. and Basketball-Reference.com. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen, or support his work via Venmo here or Patreon here.