Andre Drummond played his first game since Feb. 12 when he debuted for the Los Angeles Lakers in the Wednesday showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Cleveland Cavaliers shut the 27-year-old down after they decided to part ways with the center, which triggered an avalanche of aggrieved comments from NBA veteran Draymond Green.
The Golden State Warriors forward promptly called out the league for the hypocrisy in treatment of its players and used Drummond’s case as an example. He said Cleveland disrespected Drummond when they made the decision to trade him away and then expected the center to stay content with his exile. Green then called on the NBA to protect the players from similar “embarrassments” in the future.
Drummond showed appreciation for the Warriors star’s support on social media after he made his remarks. And when asked about Green’s comments again during his first press conference as a Laker, the 27-year-old said he was “honored” to receive the NBA community’s backing.
“This whole experience has been a crazy time for me, but definitely a blessing for me to have this time to really focus on myself and take this time to get myself prepared for the next opportunity, which is now,” he said.
“For Draymond to do that for me, a friend of mine, I’ve known Draymond for years, for him to do that and go out and talk about that it was really cool on his part. I was definitely honored to have guys support me during this situation.”
Lakers players reached out to Drummond trying to convince him to join in on their quest to defend the NBA title this season. And after he signed with L.A., Kyle Kuzma offered the center a warm welcome.
“We’re excited to add him to the bunch and get him acclimated and get him up to speed with everything we do offensively and defensively,” the Lakers forward said. “If we can get him to buy in defensively and continue what he does on the boards and just keep it simple, I think it will bode well for us.”
Drummond credits Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Markieff Morris for easy transition
Drummond saw a couple of familiar faces when he first met with his new teammates in L.A. He reunited with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Markieff Morris, who he played with back in his Detroit Pistons days.
And the center credited the two key Lakers role players for their help in settling down after his move to Los Angeles. “Yeah, KCP and Markieff have made this transition very easy for me. From the moment I got here they showed me everything I needed to know, got all the film I needed to get to learn their schemes offensively and defensively,” he said.
“Being on the same court as them again is an incredible feeling.”
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