David Griffin: Brandon Ingram is one of the only young players I’ve ever had to beg to work less

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram won the 2019-20 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award.

Pelicans Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin emphasized that Ingram’s devotion to improvement paid major dividends all season.

“What’s really important to me about this and for our organization is the work rate that brought this about,” Griffin said. “This isn’t something where B.I. just showed up at the gym. He’s one of the only young players I’ve ever had to beg to work less. He goes through incredible lengths to get better. He loves the game. He has passion for the game in a way that very few players do and certainly very few players his age do. (It’s) the attention to detail, and just the love and joy of playing with his teammates that Brandon has.”

Ingram ended his first season with the Pelicans with career-highs in multiple categories: points (23.8), rebounds (6.1), assists (4.2) and steals (1), 3-points % (39% on a career-high 6.2 attempts x game) and FT% (85% on a career-high 5.9 attempts)