Andre Jamal Drummond (born August 10, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A center, he was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2012 NBA draft with the ninth overall pick.
Drummond was one of the top-rated basketball players in the high school class of 2011 and played one season of college basketball with the Connecticut Huskies before declaring for the draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team with Detroit in 2013, and was named an All-Star for the first time in 2016. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020. After reaching a buyout agreement with Cleveland in 2021, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. Drummond has also played for the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls. Drummond has perennially been among the league leaders in rebounding. He was a member of the 2014 U.S. national team that won a gold medal in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1993 to Jamaican parents, Drummond moved to Middletown, Connecticut, as a 7-year-old with his mother and sister, then went to Woodrow Wilson Middle School before starting high school at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford. During his freshman year, he averaged 12.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game. He improved during his sophomore year at Capital Prep, averaging 20.2 points, 16.6 rebounds, 7.2 blocks and 4.5 steals per game. After two years at Capital Preparatory Magnet School, he transferred to St. Thomas More in Oakdale, where he reclassified and repeated his sophomore year as he recovered from a stress fracture in his foot. At St. Thomas More, Drummond was one of the most dominating centers in high school basketball. He spent two years at St. Thomas More and led the team to the national prep championship in 2011, alongside future NBA player Damion Lee. He graduated in the spring that year.
Drummond was rated as the No. 1 player in the class of 2011 by ESPN and NBADraft.net, while being ranked No. 2 player by Rivals.com and Scout.com. In the summer of 2010, Drummond was a member of the gold medal-winning United States team at the 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship. He helped lead team USA to a 111–80 victory over Poland in the gold medal game.
Drummond initially declared he would spend a postgraduate year at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in 2011–12. Two weeks later on August 26, 2011, he announced via Twitter that instead he intended to reclassify again and attend the University of Connecticut. According to ESPN, the decision "created a media frenzy due to the sheer surprise." Drummond had also been considering attending Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, or West Virginia.
Drummond appeared in 34 games as a freshman at UConn, starting 30 times. He averaged 28.4 minutes of playing time per game, during which he scored 10.0 points and grabbed 7.6 rebounds. He led the team in rebounds per game, blocks per game (2.7) and field goal percentage (.538). He scored 20-plus points in two games during the season, including a 24-point performance against Holy Cross, in which he shot 11-of-12 from the field. Drummond's collegiate career ended in the first round of the NCAA tournament, as the ninth-seeded Huskies fell to eighth-seeded Iowa State. The freshman center scored two points before fouling out in 26 minutes. A month later, Drummond announced his decision to enter the 2012 NBA draft.
2012–15: Rookie season and first double-double seasons
Drummond was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the ninth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. In his rookie season, Drummond averaged 7.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.6 blocks in 20.7 minutes per game. On May 14, 2013, he was named to the 2012–13 NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He also finished fourth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting.
On January 24, 2014, Drummond recorded a then-career-high 20 rebounds to go with 20 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 14, Drummond scored 30 points and an NBA Rising Stars Challenge record 25 rebounds, and was named the MVP of the event. On March 3, Drummond recorded 17 points and a then-career-high 26 rebounds in a win over the New York Knicks.
On March 11, 2015, Drummond recorded 22 points and a season-high 25 rebounds in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. This was Drummond's fourth 20-point, 20-rebound game over the previous two seasons, the most in the NBA in that time span. On March 29, Drummond recorded a then-career-high 32 points in a loss to the Miami Heat.
2015–17: First All-Star selection and rebounding title
Drummond recorded double-doubles in each of the Pistons' first three games of the 2015–16 season, helping lead the team to an NBA-tying-best 3–0 record for the first time since the 2008–09 season. He became the first Pistons player to record three consecutive double-doubles to start the season since Ben Wallace in 2004–05. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first week of the season, becoming the first Piston to win the award since Rodney Stuckey did so in December 2009. On November 3, Drummond recorded 25 points and a career-high 29 rebounds in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, becoming the first Piston with back-to-back 20/20 games since 1985. On November 8, he recorded 29 points and 27 rebounds in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with three 20/20 games in the first six games of a season. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second week of the season, becoming the first Piston to win player of the week in consecutive weeks, and the first player to win the award in the first two weeks of the season since LeBron James in 2011–12. On November 21, Drummond's streak of 11 consecutive double-doubles to begin the season came to an end. This was the longest streak by a Piston since Dave DeBusschere recorded 13 consecutive double-doubles in 1966–67. On December 18, Drummond recorded 21 rebounds and a career-high 33 points in a 147–144 quadruple-overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. He became the first Pistons player with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Dennis Rodman in 1990–91.
On January 20, 2016, Drummond set an NBA record for free throws missed in a game with 23, surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Wilt Chamberlain on December 1, 1967. He also set a career high and franchise record by attempting 36 free throws. On January 28, Drummond earned his first NBA All-Star Game selection as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. During the All-Star weekend, he also participated in the Slam Dunk Contest. On February 27, he recorded his league-leading 50th double-double of the season with 15 points and 17 rebounds in a 102–91 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On March 2, Drummond recorded nine points and 14 rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs, ending his career high and the league's season high of consecutive double-doubles at 13 straight. The Pistons finished the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 44–38 record, earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2009. They went on to be swept in their first-round match-up against the eventual NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in a highly competitive series.
On July 15, 2016, Drummond re-signed with the Pistons on a five-year, $130 million contract. On October 30, he recorded 20 points and 23 rebounds in a 98–83 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, setting his 10th career game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. With 20 points and 17 rebounds on November 19 against the Boston Celtics, Drummond reached 4,000 career rebounds. At 23 years and 101 days, he became the second-youngest player to reach the milestone, trailing only Dwight Howard (22 years, 129 days). On December 7, he recorded a season-high 26 points and 20 rebounds in an 87–77 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. On March 17, 2017, he grabbed 22 rebounds in an 87–75 loss to the Toronto Raptors. It was the 34th time he had 20 rebounds in a game, including seven in 2016–17.