SAN ANTONIO – Like most rookies, San Antonio Spurs second-round pick Harrison Ingram is currently experiencing a lot of firsts: his first media interviews, his first practice in an NBA uniform.
Ingram’s first encounter with Spurs legend and NBA Hall of Fame forward Tim Duncan was a moment he won’t soon forget.
“That’s Tim Duncan, man. He just dapped me up,” Ingram said in a video posted to the Spurs’ social media accounts. “I’m not washing my hand for, like, a year.”
For anyone who thought Ingram was serious, he has some news to share.
“I’ve washed my hand (since meeting Duncan). I was playing around,” Ingram told KSAT. “That moment was crazy. First of all, to be in the NBA in itself, is crazy. To be on the Spurs rotation is another step. To meet Tim Duncan, the legend of the Spurs. He’s down-to-earth. He was just walking around here. I didn’t even know I was going to meet him.
“I just ate lunch, had my hat on, family was in the background. We had just gotten here. All of a sudden, I see, ‘Is that Tim, is that Tim Duncan?’ I look at Steph(on) Castle. ‘You see him? Bro, that’s crazy.’”
Ingram is also beginning to wrap his head around what it means to be a professional athlete.
“For me, it’s weird to be here and be an NBA player,” Ingram said. “You get treated a little bit different. You get the access to this facility. You get to say you’re an NBA player. You can say you’re on the Spurs. You can work out whenever you want. You can shoot whenever you want. You’ve got trainers with you. Guys guarding you every day. For me, I’m just trying to take it all in, and act like I don’t know anything. Asking guys questions, trying to get advice, trying to see what they do to get to the level that they’re at.”
Ingram and the Spurs will take the Summer League floor for the first time at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Sacramento, California against the Charlotte Hornets.
More Spurs NBA summer league coverage on KSAT: