The No. 1 homeless man at the top of the NBA. He should have dominated the league, but at the age of 28, he is earning a minimum salary.

Under the backboard, he was once the king; before fate, he ended up being a passerby.

Once upon a time, he was the future and hope of the Motor City, a rebounding beast, a giant inside, and the "Dragon God" among fans. Now, he has almost been eliminated by the NBA and is wandering around with a basic salary.

Andre Drummond was born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1993. He is a natural basketball player. He has been taller than anyone since he was a child, and has a pair of long arms and excellent running and jumping abilities. However, due to the lack of his father's Because of his companionship and his body size that was much larger than his peers, Drummond often encountered the glare of others and bullying on the court. Opponent's parents would put pressure on Drummond's coach on the grounds of false age. Therefore, for a long time, he did not have the opportunity to show himself.

It was not until he was ten years old, when the physical gap was not so obvious, that Drummond slowly emerged, especially in high school, when his reputation reached its peak in an instant.

In his freshman year of high school, Drummond averaged 12.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game. His outstanding bounce and speed shocked many senior scouts. You know, they have seen too many talented people, but none of them can be as fascinating as Drummond.

"He combines height, strength, mobility, athleticism and explosive power. He has a soft shooting touch and is also a very creative passer. On the defensive end, he can also effectively use his feet to block shots. I have never seen such a comprehensive big man.", said a scout.

As a sophomore, he averaged 20.2 points, 16.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 7.2 blocks per game, which made Drummond famous. He was rated as the No. 1 high school student in the United States by many media. Later, he transferred to St. Thomas More High School and led the team to a record of 30 wins and 7 losses, winning the National Preparatory School Championship in one fell swoop.

After graduation, Drummond seemed a little hesitant when deciding on his future. On the one hand, he wanted to enter the college campus step by step. On the other hand, he wanted to train alone to prepare for the draft. On the other hand, he also wanted to go directly to Europe to play professionally like Jennings. It is worth mentioning that Jennings got a contract of US$1.65 million after tax from the Roma team. For a poor family, this is undoubtedly a huge wealth.

After repeated considerations, Drummond decided to compete in the NCAA and bring his talent to the prestigious University of Connecticut.

However, you really don’t know which one will come first, tomorrow or the accident. As the championship team of the previous season, UConn’s strength and reputation cannot be underestimated, but it did not bring much help to Drummond because UConn left most of its main players. , such as Lamb and Napier, not only that, some of Drummond's shortcomings have gradually been exposed. Averaged 10 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game, which seems good, but in the championship, he only scored 2 points and committed 5 fouls.

Drummond's intelligence and mentality were both written in the report by scouts. He is "easy to get emotional and get into foul trouble." In the history of the NBA, there have been such big men, such as Andrew Bynum, which also caused his peak to be extremely short-lived. Although Drummond still wanted to play for another year to prove himself again, unfortunately, due to academic issues, UConn was suspended for one year, forcing him to participate in the 2012 NBA draft.

The result was as expected. The teams holding the top eight picks chose to ignore Drummond. They did not think that the latter could immediately adapt to the intensity of the NBA, so it was not until the ninth pick that Drummond was picked by the Pistons.

Drummond spent most of his rookie season as a substitute and missed 22 games due to injuries. His comeback coincided with the end of the season, and he was given the opportunity to start. And he was ambitious enough to seize the only opportunity to perform and get his first 20+10 double-double in his career, winning the trust of the coaching staff.

In the second season, the Pistons began to fully cultivate Drummond, starting all 81 games. In order to allow him to grow faster, the Pistons assigned Monroe to the 4th position, and then signed the all-around Josh Smith to serve as the 3rd position. Thanks to the help of the system, Drummond also gradually realized his talent, scoring 30+10 and double 20 statistics, becoming a new inside star in the NBA.

In the 15-16 season, Drummond, who was in the last year of his rookie contract, broke out completely, averaging 16.2 points, 14.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. Although the league at this time The league has been impacted by the Warriors' small ball, but Detroit, which has been dormant for many years, really hopes to have a star to boost the sluggish market. Amidst the doubts, the Pistons still offered a five-year maximum salary contract of US$130 million.

But it was this contract that opened Drummond's Pandora's Box.

During the offseason of 2013, Drummond had a relationship with actor McCurdy, but it only lasted for half a year. McCurdy later revealed, "Drummond is a pitiful and immature big boy. His thoughts and actions are very high-quality and incomprehensible."

Perhaps, this kind of athletic boy has inner He may have a rough heart, just like Bynum, Howard, etc., after receiving a high salary, Drummond also relaxed and treated the game just like a 2K game. He only cared about the data, not winning or losing. He would deliberately shrink the defense in order to gain rebounds; he would deliberately give up half of his position in order to gain blocks; he would dribble the ball through the half court alone in order to gain points..

The statistics are indeed dazzling, averaging at least 15 points and 15 rebounds per game for three consecutive seasons, but the Pistons' record has never broken through. Slowly, Detroiters have also realized that this kind of data brush cannot save the team at all. The offense is not efficient, the defense is not deterrent, and there is no shooting range and frame protection that are most needed in the small ball era. The most important thing is that Drummond always loses his temper and has become a locker room bomb.

On the 2020 trade deadline, the Pistons packaged Drummond to the Cavaliers.

"When someone told me that I was sent to Cleveland, my first reaction was, brother, are you kidding me?", Drummond recalled, "I was really not ready to leave."

However, this was just the beginning of Drummond's wandering career. Not long after he played for the Cavaliers, he was put on the shelf again, but he never There is a buyer willing to take over, but since he has been banned from playing by the team, Drummond can only choose to buy out and leave in a decent way. In the 2021 offseason, this top-paid center has been waiting for a month in the free agent market, but only the 76ers are willing to provide a veteran's minimum salary. It is worth mentioning that Drummond is only 28 years old at this time.

At this time, Drummond still did not realize his problem and was still pursuing flashy data. A few months later, the transaction appeared again.