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Russell, Ingram and Others Impress On First Day of Camp

SANTA BARBARA — “B.I. can’t play! I don’t know why he’s in the league! He shouldn’t have gotten picked!”

Larry Nance Jr. had just been raining praise on Brandon Ingram when the second-overall pick himself walked up next to Nance, who decided to have some fun with the rookie.

The two laughed at Nance’s mock criticism as day one of training camp came to a close at UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

This sort of joking and playfulness has been constant around the Lakers since Luke Walton took over in the offseason. The head coach was highly complimentary of the way that his team brought “effort and energy” to the start of camp.

“You don’t look too much into the sloppiness that’s gonna happen,” Walton said. “To me, it’s more about looking at who’s stepping up into leadership roles; who’s playing well together; who communicates with each other well.”

Walton singled out Jose Calderon, D’Angelo Russell, Lou Williams and Marcelo Huertas as the players who showed leadership capabilities from the first day.

For his part, Russell sees this as an opportunity that is his to seize.

“At this point, it’s being vocal,” Russell said. “Then leading by example is going to come, too. Try to be one of the first guys in the gym; trying to to compete when guys are tired; picking guys up when they need it. It comes slowly.”

What would certainly help is a focus on defense.

The Lakers allowed the NBA’s fourth-most points per game last year (106.9), and Walton made it the day’s key emphasis by having the team work on defense for about 80 percent of practice.

Russell, meanwhile, understands his coach’s commitment to that side of the ball.

“It takes five people to play defense, not just one-on-one defense,” Russell said. “It’s five letting everybody know nobody’s on an island.”

Others bought in, too, like Nance, who said that “the defensive end is going to be my end of the floor.”

Walton singled out Ingram, saying that he was “phenomenal” at defensive fundamentals.

“Ingram’s attitude’s awesome,” Walton said. “You can tell he’s been coached and — how would you say — parented. This guy’s incredible. He’s an incredible person. He competes, but he does what you ask. He hasn’t complained once since he’s been here all summer. He’s a phenomenal guy.”

Ingram claims that he has gotten better defensively since joining the Lakers in June. He seemed excited, rather than shaken, at his first official NBA practice.

“At the end of the day, it’s all basketball,” Ingram said. “This is something we dreamed of, something we grew up on. I just love playing basketball, so it’s good being in the gym.”

Ingram has meshed well with his teammates thus far, going out to dinner the night before and setting up video game competitions for “FIFA 17.”

Back on the court, Walton applauded Ingram’s practice debut.

“If you’re watching him closely like coaches do, you’d be really happy with the way he performed today,” Walton said.

Ingram was far from the only one receiving rave reviews, as Walton described the way Julius Randle ran the floor at practice as “incredible.”

But the hero of the day was Timofey Mozgov.

At the end of practice, each player attempted a free throw. If 15 of the 20 Lakers made it, then associate head coach (and UCSB alum) Brian Shaw would have to do pushups replacing the team’s conditioning.

The Lakers still needed one more when Mozgov, the last shooter, stepped to the line and drained it.

The team spilled onto the floor in celebration.

“After a long practice, it was great to see B. Shaw doing those pushups,” Nance said. “He needs it.”