Brandon Ingram revisits his time with New Orleans Pelicans, reminisces about "home" and heartfelt fan love during his emotional return to the Smoothie King Center.
The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, but the spotlight was on an opposing player as Brandon Ingram made his return to the Smoothie King Center for the first time since being traded last season.
The Pelicans added Ingram back in 2019 as part of the haul they got when they traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. They then traded him to the Raptors at the deadline last year, ending a storied six years in New Orleans.
Ingram made an All-Star game in his first season on the Pelicans and averaged 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
While he was never able to win a ring in New Orleans, he'll certainly be remembered in the city for a long time. He's top-10 for games played and top-five for points, three-pointers and assists.
"[This night] was everything I pictured. All the love that I got from the fans, from my old coaches, from my teammates, from the ushers, from everybody, security, everybody showed love. They gave me my flowers while I was here," said the Toronto star.
The Pelicans organization even showed Ingram some love with a nice tribute video, which Ingram laughed about not hearing because Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković was yelling during.
It's no surprise that it was an emotional return. Ingram spent six years in the city and was there through plenty of ups and downs.
"It reminded me of home, you know," said Ingram. "Just, I could say this, how ghetto it was. Just the slang, everything. When I traveled around town, it reminded me of Kingston. It was a connectivity from me walking into different restaurants, the love that was shared."
Pelicans announcer Antonio Daniels has often said that players don't forget the gyms where they shoot well. It certainly looked like Ingram was able to find a little bit of comfort being back in "The Blender."
"I needed a bit of love today anyway because I've been playing terrible," said Ingram with a funny jab at himself. He's not exactly wrong, though.
The second-time All-Star was slumping heading into this game. The three games prior, he averaged just 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists with 30.0/12.5/64.3 splits. He got back to 22 in this game.