Andre Drummond faced Joel Embiid several times since the Cameroonian center entered the league in 2013. Drummond, who was the Pistons’ franchise center for several years, reflected on his past battles with his current teammate.
While the move to acquire Drummond made sense this past summer, it shocked the city of Philadelphia since Drummond and Embiid’s on-court relationship seemed a bit shaky, at least from the outside.
“We’ve never had any real beef, and I think people really misunderstood that. And the reason why that is is because I never backed down, so people thought it was beef,” Drummond said recently to Sixers Wire’s Ky Carlin.
“We’ve never had any real beef, and I think people really misunderstood that. And the reason why that is is because I never backed down, so people thought it was beef. He’s not just gonna have a free night against me. I’m gonna keep playing regardless of how well he’s playing. He knew that, too.”
Drummond was an elite center during his time in Detroit. He was an All-Star in 2016 and 2018, and he led the league in rebounding four times.
The last two seasons, Drummond’s role regressed to a backup role, after he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers and then signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last year. Last summer, he joined the Sixers to become Embiid’s backup at the center position.
