New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram in elite group of playoff performers

Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans don’t have a rich history in the NBA playoffs.

New Orleans has only played 39 playoff games as a franchise, six of which featured Brandon Ingram.

To put that in perspective, LeBron James has played 266 playoff games by himself, in fact, he has lost more than double as many playoff games (92) as the Pelicans have played as a franchise.

They are hoping to change that soon, as Zion Williamson is returning next season and the Pelicans have a strong roster around him and Ingram, adding CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. to go along with Herb Jones, Jonas Valanciunas and a hungry young bench.

Ingram has only played six playoff games, but he did take his game to another level, and though the sample size is small, he put himself in some elite company.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram’s playoff stats are rare

Brandon Ingram put the Pelicans on his back last season, becoming the unquestioned leader and the guy who carried them to the playoffs.

He averaged 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists during the regular season, numbers that shot up in the playoffs where he averaged 27 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists as the Pelicans best scorer and playmaker.

Those playoff averages (SAMPLE SIZE ALERT!)  of at least 27 points, six rebounds and six assists put him into a group that only has three other players.

One of them is easy to guess, as LeBron James has averaged an astounding 28.7 points, nine rebounds and 7.2 assists in what has to be the greatest playoff career in NBA history even though he doesn’t have the most rings.

I thought one of the others would be Magic Johnson. Nope.

Surely Michael Jordan? No.

Oscar Robertson? Nope.

Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic? No, not him.

The other two players are actually Luka Doncic and Ja Morant, both of whom also have fairly small sample sizes when it comes to playoff statistics.

Having three young players on this list shows how hard it is to maintain an elite average over time in the playoffs, as even some of the NBA’s all-time greats were not able to keep their averages above those marks.

It also shows the greatness of LeBron James, who has played more playoff games than everyone I just mentioned and has still put up the best all-around stats.

Brandon Ingram is hoping to add some more playoff games to his resume this season with the New Orleans Pelicans, and to show those six games were not a fluke.