It goes back to last March, me getting injured, and not being able to be back on the court until September, Ingram said on a Zoom call Monday with TNT after being informed he had won the award by his parents.

Thats very little time to start preseason and to start the regular season, but I was ready for it.

Since Day 1 I just wanted to put in my work every single day and just get the best out of it.

Ingram credited former Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry for his success, saying the coach that was fired on Aug.

Ingram received 42 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earned 326 total points.

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doni finished in third place with 101 points (12 first-place votes).

Ingram talked about his season earlier this month when he was a just a finalist for the award.

People are seeing my work that Ive put in, and its definitely shown on the basketball floor.

The former Duke standout, who turns 23 on Wednesday, became a more dynamic scorer by significantly improving both his 3-point and free-throw shooting.

Ingram shot a career-best 39.1 from 3-point range, up from 33 from deep during his final season with the Lakers.

First, it was me figuring out the mechanics and the right way to shoot the basketball shooting from my legs and stuff instead of my arms, just the consistency and how to shoot, Ingram said.

Then it was the amount of attempts that I took, having the confidence to take those shots and continue to take those shots.

I think that helped me with my confidence and continuing to make them.

Ingrams free-throw percentage rose from 67.5 last season to 85.1 this season.

Meanwhile, he remained largely healthy, playing and starting in all but 10 of New Orleans 72 games without experiencing a recurrence of the deep vein thrombosis in his right arm that sidelined him for his final 19 games with the Lakers.

The timing of his improved play and the accompanying recognition comes at a fortuitous time for Ingram, who is a restricted free agent this offseason.

The Pelicans can either choose to offer him a maximum contract of about 167 million for the next five seasons or match any offer he agrees to with another team.

David Griffin, the Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations, has not yet detailed his plans for Ingram, but has been highly complimentary of as both a player and person.

For his part, Ingram has shown little interest in leaving New Orleans, where he has an opportunity to continue playing with another former Duke star, 2019 No.1 overall draft choice Zion Williamson.

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