Andre Drummond stars on and off the court in 2017 NBA Africa Game

Some of the NBA’s biggest stars headed to South Africa this week, contributing their time and talents towards a great event, including Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons.

The NBA’s Africa Game is much more than just an exhibition game. It was certainly much more than a game for Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons.

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For a full week, 22 of the NBA’s brightest stars head to the continent, acting as ambassadors for the sport. While there, the group participates in various community and philanthropic activities meant to expand the growth of the game and also bring joy to those less fortunate.

By all accounts, this was a powerful experience for Andre Drummond. Not only did he dominate the game, Drummond also brought his mom with him on the trip, a journey they had discussed for years.

During the game, Doris Burke enlightened viewers to a side of Drummond most may not have known. When the NBA bus brought the players to an African shantytown, the Detroit big-man was reportedly crushed. Seeing the poverty and hunger around him, Drummond started giving every snack, drink, or item he could find on the players’ bus to the shantytown residents.

According to Burke, Drummond was so moved to give to this community, by the time they left he was only wearing his shorts; he had given away every other piece of clothing he had on.

This might not be a surprise to those fans who remember that Andre offered teammate Stanley Johnson a home after his mother passed away. However, it is worth mentioning since Andre does receive plenty of criticism from fans.

Game Recap

When I tuned into the NBA Africa game it was 13-13. Admittedly, I was tuning into this game just to check out Drummond. I wanted to see how he’s looking since his nasal surgery at the start of the summer. He looks really good, probably the leanest I’ve ever seen him. At times, it was hard to tell the difference between him and DeMarcus Cousins (they both wore their number “0” too).

Really though, I was surprised at how competitive this game was. Team World had the clear talent differential with five All-Stars on the team. Perhaps it was just a product of Team World not wanting to blow out Team Africa while trying to expand the game to that continent, but this game was entertaining.

As I said, I started watching when the game was tied 13-13. Just a few minutes into my viewing, Andre Drummond nailed a three-point shot. You can watch it below after a few nice highlights from Kristaps Porzingis.

He missed his next three attempts from long-range, but I enjoyed Doris Burke commenting that she was ‘extremely interested’ in Andre’s upcoming year. Part of her interest may be from Andre’s reported increase in stamina after having surgery this summer:

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Andre Drummond has some fun in South Africa

After the first quarter, they held a half-court shot competition, with each made shot contributing money to charity. Andre loves his half court shots. He’s been known to practice them frequently, and his numbers on them aren’t terrible.

He missed on his attempt, but continued shooting practice shots off to the side while the competition continued. I found this funny, as Andre does this during games pretty regularly if you pay attention after the whistle is blown.

It was nice to see Andre looking so lean and comfortable on the court. He even handled the ball in transition a few times, faking out Salah Mejri with a nice in-and-out at one point.

That brings us to the play of the game. Check out this off-the-backboard alley-oop dunk by Drummond, set up by Jaylen Brown:

With just under a minute left, Drummond was forced to cover Dennis Schroeder on the perimeter in transition. Schroeder appeared to go by him, but Drummond stripped him for a steal. That steal wasn’t given to Andre in the stats because the ball ended up in Porzingis’ hands. Either way, that’s a near-300 lbs center hopping onto a starting point guard in transition and stripping him on a drive to his strong hand: impressive, no matter what the stakes are.

The game was competitive until Drummond iced the game with a nice right handed put-back off a rebound with 16 seconds left. Andre finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds

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For those fans hoping to see an encouraging game from Andre at the line, this wasn’t that game. He actually ended the game with a higher three-point percentage (25%) than free-throw percentage (16%).

However, he did (of course) lead the game in rebounds. Like clockwork, when Andre plays, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Africa game, All-Star game, or just a regular season game, he’s always the best rebounder on the floor. As Detroit fans, we can’t continue to discount how special that is.

Quick Takeaways:

• Andre Drummond is the best rebounder in the world right now. This game, and every game he plays just proves that to me more and more.
• Andre definitely looks to be healthier and happier on the court. I think we’ll see an immediate impact from his surgery, as well as a long-term impact as he continues to improve.
• This is an awesome event held by the NBA. Nothing but respect goes to the players who are willing to give up part of their offseason to go and give back like that. They are also risking injury in what is nothing more than an exhibition game, so shout-out to those guys.

• Doris Burke is a hell of a commentator. She’s already an all-time great sideline reporter, but she was ridiculously good today providing color for the game.