LeBron James and rest of Lakers wish Brandon Ingram ‘a speedy recovery,’ say his issue ‘put things in perspective’ for team

Los Angeles — While speaking with reporters before the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, head coach Luke Walton made it clear he wasn’t going to reveal any more details about Brandon Ingram’s situation.

Ingram had been declared out for the season earlier in the day after further testing revealed that the mysterious shoulder injury that left him unable to lift his arm above his head without pain was actually Deep Venous Thrombosis, better known as blood clots.

Walton wasn’t going to give any more than that, saying multiple times that it wasn’t his information to share.

“He’s done for the season. We’ve released what he’s got going on, but I’m not gonna get into the details of all that,” Walton said.

That’s absolutely a fair stance from Walton, and he’s right, it isn’t his information to share. Not doing so is a show of respect for Ingram’s privacy, but how adamant Walton was about staying mum also couldn’t help but inspire a little more concern about how serious Ingram’s issues might be.

Somewhat assuaging those worries was LeBron James, who said that he spoke to Ingram before the game, and that the third-year forward was in good spirits.

“He was pretty upbeat under the circumstances,” James said. “It was good to see him in here today, and like I said, we wish him a speedy and healthy recovery.”

A few of Ingram’s teammates echoed those thoughts, with Josh Hart saying “we wish him a speedy recovery and have his back whenever he needs it” and Alex Caruso adding that the injury was “tough for (Ingram)” because “he’s such a good player and he was having such a good stretch post All-Star break. I’m hoping the best for him in a speedy recovery.”

James thought that the whole situation allowed the team to take a step back and realize that as awful as this season has been, and as disappointing as not making the playoffs will be, there are bigger things in life.

“I think it puts everything in perspective. I mean at the end of the day we play the game that we love, and our league is all about wins and losses, and that’s what it’s all about. But when you have something like that happen, you’re able to put things in perspective and understand how important those things are as well,” James said. “On the flip side, you just don’t take an opportunity for granted when you do get on the floor, because it could be taken away from you and your season could be shut down.

“Obviously we wish the best of health not only to B.I., but to Zo as well.”

As we await more details on Ingram’s exact issue and the path forward, all the rest of us can do is wish for the same.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. All stats per NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.