Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans has not played in a while. He suffered what the team has termed a “left great toe contusion” in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 25 and has been sidelined since. At practice on Thursday, Ingram told reporters that “confidence” is the biggest thing in between him and his return to the court.
“Confidence in pushing off,” Ingram said. “Confidence in being back to who I want to be. Trying to be explosive, trying to just be myself. That’s the biggest thing. If I don’t feel like myself, then I know it’s not time to be on the floor.”
He is unsure of exactly when he’ll come back. The “trickiest thing,” he said, is when he is “feeling like I’m ready, but I’m not quite ready.” Pelicans coach Willie Green told reporters that it has been “a slow process” for Ingram, and that “it’s been tough on him.”
“Some days I feel really really good, and recovery is bad,” Ingram said. “Some days, recovery is good. So whenever I feel 100 percent, I’ll give it a go. But it’s hard to say right now.”
Green said that the team is “hopeful to get him back sometime soon,” but the main priority is “to get him back healthy” and avoid setbacks, as the big-picture goal is to build toward being as competitive as possible in the playoffs.
The good news is that New Orleans has thrived without Ingram. With a 22-12 record, it is tops in the West, despite the fact that Zion Williamson and Ingram have played only 12 games together (and CJ McCollum missed two of them). The Pelicans ran sixth in offense, sixth in defense and third in point differential, and Williamson has bulldozed his way into the MVP conversation. In the 12 games Williamson has played since Ingram’s injury, he has averaged 29.8 points on 68.2 percent true shooting, plus 7.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks, and New Orleans has scored 121.7 points per 100 possessions in his minutes.
“It’s pretty tough because I want to be on the court,” Ingram said. “Especially with our team success that we’ve been having lately, I want to be a part…
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