Detroit Pistons: Top 10 moments from 2017-18 NBA season
5. “Mr. 1,000: Andre Drummond”
Andre Drummond has been the epitome of the hard-nosed, blue-collar NBA star for his entire career. Drummond isn’t flash. He hasn’t necessarily relied on finesse throughout his career, but more on his athleticism and high motor he plays with, along with physicality. Drummond has led the NBA in rebounds and has been the go-to guy in Detroit for many years prior to the arrival of point guard Reggie Jackson and recently acquired All-Star, Blake Griffin.
In the 2018-19 season, Drummond would see career spikes in points per game (15.0), rebounds per game (16.3), and free throw percentage (60.5). Drummond also joins an elite group of NBA lore for a fifth consecutive season recording 1,000-plus points and 1,000-plus rebounds.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
Drummond becomes the sixth player in NBA history to also record 1,000-plus points, 1,000-plus rebounds, 100-plus steals and 100-plus blocks more than once in their career. In six of his years in the league, Drummond has accomplished the said feat a total of three times, joining the greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Lacey and David Robinson.
If this task alone wasn’t enough for Drummond’s 2017-18 stellar season, the young center also became the second-youngest Piston to reach 6,000 points, only trailing Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas, and only the second Pistons center since Ben Wallace to record at least 100-plus steals for three or more consecutive seasons. Drummond was elected to his second All-Star team and with the addition of Blake Griffin, life is only gonna get easier for Detroit’s franchise player.
Andre Drummond is one of the most talented big men this league has seen and when stretching the floor eventually enters his repertoire, his game will have finally caught up. Had Drummond played in the 90s and early 2000s, it’s very likely his skill-set would go hand-in-hand with the greats before him. With a different NBA in place, Drummond’s value is often underrated, but he truly is a force to be reckoned with and has been for quite some time.