Pistons center Andre Drummond is averaging 18.1 points per game and 17.6 rebounds per game this season. The 22-year-old brings an unmatched ferocity to the paint night in and night out, posting a Rodman-esque total rebounding percentage of 26.6 percent and going after each board like a rabid boar on a pogo stick. With numbers like those, it might be asinine to imply that Drummond somehow has a disinclination towards contact, especially with the number of contested rebounds that he pulls down and the putbacks that he works tirelessly in traffic for. But that’s exactly what Milwaukee forward Khris Middleton suggested after the Bucks blew out the Pistons by the final of 109-88 on Monday.
“We just tried to be physical,” said Middleton after the game when asked about the team’s gameplan for Drummond per ProBasketballTalk. “We know he doesn’t like contact. Once he misses a couple, he is going to get down on himself and start forcing tough shots.”
While Middleton does have a point in that Drummond struggles to finish through contact with his back to the basket and isn’t always the most physical interior defender (Drummond is allowing opponents to shoot a generous 55.7 percent at the rim against him this season per NBA.com), to hint that he shies away from contact in a holistic sense is ludicrous, and even Drummond himself acknowledges that.
On Tuesday, Drummond took to social media and subtweeted the life out of Middleton’s comments:
I shy away from contact ??
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummondd) November 25, 2015
Drummond’s snooty emojis are very well justified. The UConn product is already the best rebounder in the game today, and, in case Middleton doesn’t know, has earned a reputation as one of the league’s premier bruisers down low.
It’s definitely not the first time Drummond has felt disrespected. So it’s probably a safe bet to say that he’s looking forward to the next time the Pistons face the Bucks on December 4th, a night where the former No. 9 overall pick is likely envisioning throwing up a 30-30 to shove the words right down Middleton’s throat like one of his putback dunks.
H/T NBA Reddit
