Brandon Ingram has tried to occupy his time while injured. He caught up on sleep, went bowling, shopped “a little bit too much” and spent some more time with his family.
But nothing can replace hoops.
“It has been boring,” Ingram said at Saturday’s practice. “I don’t do anything else but play basketball.”
Ingram has missed the last two months of action due to a left groin strain suffered in Miami.
He participated in non-contact drills at Saturday’s practice, and plans to “ramp it up a little bit” over the next week.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays on the road trip,” coach Luke Walton said. “He’s feeling much better, he says. But we’re going to keep being patient with him and make sure that he goes through all the proper channels before we throw him back out there.”
The Lakers have gone 4-4 since Ingram’s injury. He will also miss Monday’s game at Indiana.
Ingram had thrived in the month leading up to this strain. He had averaged 18.6 points, 5.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds during that 11-game period, while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and making half of his 26 3-point attempts.
Despite the pause in his momentum, Ingram is trying to take some positives out of being sidelined, mainly with his vantage point from the bench.
“I get to get a different view of things, of reads I should make on the court,” Ingram said. “(I’m) constantly looking at the guys and trying to get on them for some stupid mistakes.”