When the Washington Wizards announced Tuesday that John Wall would undergo knee surgery and miss 6-8 weeks, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was left to decide who would replace the point guard in the upcoming All-Star Game. Hours later, he announced his choice: Pistons center Andre Drummond, who is averaging 14.7 points and a league-high 15.1 rebounds per game.
This will be the second All-Star appearance for Drummond, and he seems fairly excited about it. But do you know who seems even more jazzed? The captain of Drummond’s All-Star squad, LeBron James, who interrupted an interview Drummond was giving on TNT to yell “TEAM LEBRON” into the microphone.
#LeBronJames welcomes #AndreDrummond to Team LeBron! pic.twitter.com/cAqTQL3OM3
— NBA (@NBA) January 31, 2018
Drummond’s selection comes a week after he expressed frustration at being left off the All-Star roster, when Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry, Al Horford, Brad Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Wall and Kevin Love were named reserves. He tweeted twice about his disappointment and also retweeted several people who told him he belonged in the game.
Guess I gotta start doing back flips after every point I score to get attention around here!
Lmao on to the next
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) January 24, 2018
Gotta be fuckin kidding me lol
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) January 24, 2018
Maybe there’s some stigma attached to being an injury replacement, but that won’t keep Drummond’s Wikipedia page from saying two-time All-Star.
Drummond is the second player to join Team LeBron belatedly, after Paul George was chosen to replace the injured DeMarcus Cousins. It now appears the squad will need yet another sub, as Kevin Love left Tuesday’s Cavaliers game with a hand issue. If Love is out 6-8 weeks, as reported, Silver will have to choose another fill-in, with possible candidates including Kemba Walker and Ben Simmons.
