Duke basketball: Brandon Ingram donates 982 sneakers to hospital staff
Former Duke basketball standout Brandon Ingram is giving back to his hometown in Kinston, North Carolina.
His hometown of Kinston, North Carolina is always on the mind of former Duke basketball star Brandon Ingram, and the current New Orleans Pelicans star is thinking about his hometown once again.
In the midst of preparing for the restart of the NBA season as his Pelicans try and edge out the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, Ingram is donating 982 pairs of Adidas sneakers to his hometown.
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Specifically, Ingram is donating those sneakers to the entire staff at the University of North Carolina Lenoir Health Care Center in Kinston, bravely battling the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospital in which the sneakers will be donated is the same hospital that the NBA All-Star was born.
The story was first reported on WITN in North Carolina.
According to the report, the sneakers are scheduled to arrive and be distributed at the hospital on July 28.
This is not the first time throughout the pandemic that Ingram has tried to help those around him as he also donated meals to over 900 families in New Orleans who have either been directly or indirectly impacted by the virus.
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Brandon Ingram has truly come into his own both on and off the court in his first season with the Pelicans following being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers last season in the Anthony Davis blockbuster.
Ingram, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, was named to his first All-Star Game in the 2019-20 season and was averaging 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game prior to the suspension of the season.
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The 6-foot-7 forward is also shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from 3-point range.
Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans will be one of the first teams to take the floor in the NBA’s resumed season as the team will tip things off on July 30 against the Utah Jazz in the first game of a doubleheader.