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The Los Angeles Lakers have finally decided to fill their last roster spot, and are signing G League veteran — and South Bay Lakers call-up from last season — Andre Ingram.
Lauren Jones of the L.A. Sentinel first reported the news:
Andre Ingram will join the #Lakers on their upcoming five game road trip according to my sources
— Lauren A. Jones (@LoJoMedia) March 11, 2019
Shams Charania of the Athletic confirmed the report soon after, adding that Ingram will join the Lakers on a 10-day contract.
Luke Walton confirmed the reports at Lakers practice:
Luke Walton confirms Andre Ingram call-up from South Bay Lakers, says they’ll look at other players first but he’ll likely get some playing time.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) March 11, 2019
Ingram was already in the Midwest for a G-League game and will join the Lakers for tomorrow’s game in Chicago.
Luke Walton confirmed Lakers are signing Andre Ingram. He's already traveling and due to meet the team in Chicago tonight.
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) March 11, 2019
Last year Ingram became the feel-good story of the Lakers’ season, and one of the best stories of the NBA season as a whole, as the then-32-year-old (Ingram is now 33) shot 47.1 percent from behind the arc in the Lakers’ final two games of the season, taking full advantage of his first NBA opportunity after grinding for 10 years in the minor leagues and giving Lakers fans something to cheer for down the stretch.
Ingram’s fireworks did not lead to another NBA opportunity, however, and he spent this season back with the South Bay Lakers, where he’s shot 35.7 percent from behind the arc in a down year for the G League’s all-time leader in 3-point makes.
That’s good enough for the Lakers, though, who have been starved for shooting and rank second-to-last in the NBA in 3-point percentage at 33.3 percent. At the very least, Ingram is someone who NBA teams aren’t going to want to get embarrassed by again after his nationally televised explosions from last season, so he should at least create some gravity to allow the team’s remaining healthy playmakers a little more space to get to the basket.
Beyond that, Ingram — one of the hardest working and most beloved veterans in G League history, a genuinely good guy who makes extra money during the season by tutoring high school students on calculus via Skype — will give the Lakers a sorely needed dose of joy and likability, as now fans have at least someone and something to root for as the team plays out the last, otherwise-meaningless 16 games of a lost season.
That’s worth getting excited about, and everyone with a functioning heart can root for him to repeat his Cinderella story from last season.
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.