In today’s sports media landscape, it’s rare to find active players keeping it 100 percent real. Even when they speak the truth, it feels like they’re holding back just a bit. However, Andre Drummond kept it realer than most recently when speaking to a group of young hoopers. He talked about basketball and the importance of being a good teammate and not making everything about oneself. He admitted he was the guy on the sideline pouting when things didn’t go his way.
“I’ma tell you something. Drummond continued… Fellas, I was that guy. I was a 100-million-dollar guy. I was pouting, I was upset when I wasn’t playing. And I had a bad attitude. I went from 100 million dollars to a (expletive) league minimum. This is a personal story I’m sharing with you guys right now. … They don’t care how many rebounds you get, how many 3s you make. They care about you being as a person, are you a good teammate, are you a good locker room guy? Are you someone they can count on each and every single night? I talk about consistency…”
This is a message every young baller around the country from the age of 12 and up needs to hear. Drummond is dropping knowledge on these kids in attendance. It’s not always about you, and if you can’t be happy for your teammates when they succeed, it’ll come back to haunt you. Having the boo-boo face on the sideline because the coach took you out does nothing to help the team. That’s the message Drummond attempts to convey to these young athletes.
Even if none of these kids make it to the NBA, that nugget of wisdom will help them the rest of their lives should they choose to listen. It was only a few years ago that Drummond was one of the more coveted big men in the game, and now you rarely hear his name in the NBA news cycle. A couple of young guys who’ve played for Golden State the past couple of years might also want to check out Drummond’s message. One was recently traded away from the bay area, and the other allegedly wants out.
Of course, there will always be those who want to buck the system or choose not to listen when the OG’s tell ‘em what could happen if they venture down a certain path. That’s really who this type of message is for: those who don’t want to act right. Those who want to do what they want to do then end up learning the hard way. Drummond tells us exactly what he did and now realizes he could’ve handled things differently.
The four-time rebound champ and two-time All-Star now plays for the Chicago Bulls on that league-minimum contract he mentioned. He’s still in the NBA and earning a check, but once you’ve reached that $100 million threshold, anything less than that is like hustling backward.
