The NBA season may only be two weeks old, but Andre Drummond is already making his impressions felt.
The 22-year-old Detroit Pistons center has been tearing up the league so far, posting multiple games of 20 points and 20 rebounds. His latest performance - a dominant 29 points and 27 rebounds along with three blocked shots - helped spark a 120-103 comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, reports the Associate Press.
This latest performance gave Drummond three 20-point, 20-rebound games through the Pistons' first six games. That's a feat only accomplished by the legendary Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame.
Drummond is now averaging 20.3 points and 20.3 rebounds on the season, as the Pistons have gotten off to a 5-1 start, their best start since the 2007-2008 season.
In addition, Drummond is one of three active players with multiple 25-point, 25-rebound games. The other two are Dwight Howard and Al Jefferson. Drummond has three such games to his name, while Howard and Jefferson have two each.
“I've never seen nobody rebound as well as 'Dre in my life,” Forward Marcus Morris told the Detroit Free Press. “I've never seen it ever. He might be the best rebounder I've ever seen. Period.”
Head coach Stan Van Gundy was also quick to acknowledge his young center’s scintillating play thus far.
“Andre's numbers are phenomenal. If he didn't get a rebound the rest of this [road] trip he'd be in the top three or four in rebounding,” Van Gundy said. “What he's doing on the boards is just phenomenal. He was just swallowing the ball up down the stretch.”