Brandon Ingram

Brandon Xavier Ingram (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Ingram was born on September 2, 1997, in Kinston, North Carolina.

He is the son of Donald and Joann Ingram.

He has two half-siblings, an older brother, Donovan, and an older sister, Brittany.

He shares a father with Donovan and a mother with Brittany.

Ingram's father started his career as a police officer and a manager of a local gym, but he is now full-time at a welding plant, where he makes forklifts.

Before that, Donald was a would-be hoops star, pushing his way through the semi-pro leagues.

When he moved back home to Kinston, his father started playing pickup games with a young Jerry Stackhouse, who was looking to play locally against older and more experienced players to help him elevate his game.

Stackhouse, an ex-NBA star and Kinston native, forged a friendship with Ingram's father on the court.

While Ingram grew up in a one-story house on Highland Avenue in Kinston, his brother Donovan grew up in a different house but would spend weekends with Brandon, teaching him basketball.

Kinston had an extremely high crime rate, but Ingram kept his focus on basketball.

Before Ingram was a teenager, his brother allowed him to play with him and his older friends.

He described this experience as "the best thing that ever happened to my game".

His brother, known as Bo, went on to play college basketball for South Plains College (2008–2010) and UT Arlington (2010–2012).

By the time Brandon reached eighth grade, Stackhouse became Ingram's Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) coach and mentored the young basketball player.

Those influences "took me to the next level", said Ingram, whose foundation as a player came from his father.

His father was a high school and collegiate referee who stated Brandon "was trained correctly, both mentally and physically. He grew up knowing the rules of the game".

Ingram played all four years of his high school basketball career at Kinston High School and helped lead Kinston to four straight state championships during his time there.

During his freshman year at Kinston, he came off the bench on the varsity basketball team but along the way his role grew.

In his first year with the Kinston Vikings, the team defeated Cuthbertson High School by three points to win the 2012 NCHSAA 2-A boys' basketball state championship in Reynolds Coliseum.

As a sophomore, Kinston defeated Cuthbertson for the second year in a row to win the state title and Ingram averaged 12.4 points per game (ppg), 3.9 rebounds per game (rpg) and 1.5 assists per game (apg).

Prior to the start of Ingram's junior year, he began to show improvement during the 2013 summer while playing AAU basketball.

After shining for the Stackhouse Elite team, the 6 ft junior entered the year with high expectations and received a large amount of attention from college coaches who were lined up to recruit Ingram to a Division I school.

In his junior year, Ingram led the Kinston Vikings to its third consecutive state title where he scored 28 points to go along with his 16 rebounds against North Rowan.

During the season, the Vikings went undefeated in their conference with a 26–4 overall record while Ingram was averaging 19.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 assists per game and was named Eastern Regional Most Valuable Player (MVP).

During the spring 2014, Ingram represented the Stackhouse Elite for the Norman Parker Showcase at the Suwanee Sports Academy where he earned MVP honors after leading the team to the championship.

He averaged 17.9 points per game and 5.3 rebounds each contest and shot better than 81 percent from the free throw line during the Adidas Uprising circuit.

After his junior year came to an end, Ingram participated in the NBPA Top 100 Camp on June 19, 2014, at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Later that summer, instead of playing for an AAU tournament in the Atlanta area, he decided to compete with his high school team at the annual East Coast Invitational (ECI), an off-season event in his home state.

As a senior, he averaged 24.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and led the Vikings to a 26–4 record.

At the Spalding Hoophall Classic, Kinston pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback defeating Trenton Catholic Academy (56–54) behind Ingram's 22 points.

In his final high school basketball game, he was named MVP of the state championship game after scoring 28 points to go with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a win over East Lincoln High School at the Dean E. Smith Center.

This made Ingram the first men's basketball player to win 4 consecutive North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) championships.

The Vikings also became the first Class 2A school in North Carolina history to win four consecutive state titles.

He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

He played three seasons with the Lakers before being traded to New Orleans in 2019 in a package for All-Star Anthony Davis.

He was traded to New Orleans and became a first-time NBA All-Star and was named the NBA Most Improved Player in 2020 during his first season with the Pelicans.

Ingram had a successful high school career in North Carolina, where he won state titles each of his four years of high school and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball.

He played one season of college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, where he was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year.

After the season, Ingram decided to forgo his remaining college eligibility and declared for the NBA draft.