Brandon Ingram was expectedly going to carry a heavy chip on his shoulder as he headed into the 2026 Raptors playoff run. Scottie Barnes is still the cornerstone, but the Raptors didn't go all-in to acquire BI just for him to be ordinary. They needed him to be exceptional. And I think it's fair to say his regular season sample proved just that. Back to All-Star status and alongside his co-star Scottie Barnes, it was Brandon Ingram who was the face of this Raptors franchise.
But so far in their first-round battle against Cleveland, BI hasn't exactly been the game-changer they were hoping for. Ingram had a modest Game 1 and followed with an exceptionally problematic Game 2, which definitely raised alarm bells across the Raptors fanbase.
Now back at home for Game 3 and a do-or-die showcase for Toronto in the process, there are understandably many questions to ask the Raptors' brass ahead of this important game. The Brandon Ingram discussions were just one of the topics that needed to be addressed, right there with the important Jakob Poeltl chatter.
Darko Rajakovic spoke to reporters post-practice on April 22, where he gave a spirited take and dropped an honest truth about BI in light of what has been happening in the recent sample.
Darko Rajakovic’s belief in Brandon Ingram endures through playoff adversity
The Raptors' head coach had this passionate response to say: "Being around Brandon now for a year-plus, he cares about winning so much. He wants to play for his own standard. He wants to help his teammates. He wants to win. Seven days ago, he was Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He's the best in the world. Everybody's like kissing him and saying "You know, you're the best in the world." Now, people are trying to create narrative that's not there. He's trying really hard. He's trying to help his teammates. [...] And this, we've seen it so many times this year, every time when, if he has a a bad performance shooting-wise, that he bounces back from that very quickly. We believe in BI. Our whole team believes in BI. I'll go in a war and fight with this guy any day or week."
The way I see it, Brandon Ingram definitely needs to be held accountable when he isn’t producing up to par. I can also sympathize with Coach Rajakovic here, since he makes a great point that Ingram has had stretches throughout the season, where he can hit a downturn but then bounce back to be a key winning presence. Right now, I acknowledge that he hasn’t quite been that guy, but it doesn’t look like Rajakovic is giving up so easily, and understandably so, given his role steering this Raptors operation.
At the same time, that Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor was a very helpful accolade that helped BI prove his critics wrong just before the season wrapped up. Still, we can’t just point to previous accomplishments when the current sample isn’t quite matching that level. Keep in mind, in a playoff setting, there is an added level of accountability and responsibility you’re held to — not only by your peers but by the fanbase as well. You either show up or you don't, it's just that simple.
Sure, reminding everyone who Brandon Ingram is and what he can be at his strongest is definitely what some in the Raptors sphere needed to hear after going down 0-2. But let's set aside the feel-good talk for now. Will the real Brandon Ingram show up in Game 3 when his team is counting on him the most? We’ll find out soon enough.
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