Best Game Ever: Andre Ingram recalls impact of Lakers debut

Dan Woike asked NBA players to tell us about the best game in their basketball career. This week: Andre Ingram.

April 10, 2018: Rockets 105, Lakers 99

19 points, 6-of-8 FGs, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal

Andre Ingram flashed a big smile when he was asked his best game ever. How could it be anything other than his storybook NBA debut for the Lakers. Basketball’s real-life Bull Durham is still grinding away in the NBA’s G League just like he was before he got called up to the NBA. Only now, two years removed, his best game ever is at the top of Ingram’s list because of the impact it’s had on others.

“You can probably guess it. The best game for me? That’s not too hard to think about. It’s my first ever NBA game. It really was the most significant. Maybe I’ve had better shooting nights, better scoring nights. That first NBA game wasn’t that. But the significance of it was amazing. There isn’t a day that goes by whether I’m at a gas station or the airport, I’ll see someone and they’ll tell me what that night did for them. And it’s funny because it wasn’t always my favorite or felt like my biggest game. But since then, even the impact it has two years removed, it’s what makes it the best ... You kind of play to inspire others, to spark something in someone else. And that’s what that night did for a lot of people.”

Sports

Best Games Ever

NBA players tell us about their best game ever.

Dec. 28, 2018