Normally when I think of rookies that are old as dirt, I think of players who are 25 or 26 years old. Of course, such players are not really “old as dirt”, they’re just a little bit older than normal. In fact, even four-year college players, in my mind, are “old” rookies, simply because most players enter the NBA at around age twenty these days.
So imagine how blown my mind was when I found out Andre Ingram was 32 years old. That makes all previous old rookies look positively young. The only comparable thing I can think of is somebody like Milos Teodosic, who was a thirty-year-old rookie because he was too busy collecting accolades in Europe to come over the States. Ingram is different. He’s been in the D/G-League for a LONG time, way longer than most players bother with. Most players, after a few years of getting paid peanuts in the NBA’s minor league, will seek paydays elsewhere. But Ingram didn’t relinquish the NBA dream, and now he’s made it, and it’s such a feel-good story that I can’t even make jokes about it, I can only talk breathlessly about how cool it is.
Just like Tyler Ulis and Isaiah Thomas are inspirations to short people, Andre Ingram can be the same type of inspiration to youngness-challenged people. He’s proven that there is no age limit on making a splash in the NBA. I think I’m gonna go work on my jumpshot now.