Born in Mount Vernon, New York to Jamaican parents, Drummond moved to Middletown, Connecticut as a 7-year-old with his mother and sister, then went to Woodrow Wilson Middle School before starting high school at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut. During his freshman year, he averaged 12.7 points, 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game. He improved during his sophomore year at Capital Prep, averaging 20.2 points, 16.6 rebounds, 7.2 blocks and 4.5 steals per game. After two years at Capital Preparatory Magnet School, he transferred to St. Thomas More. At St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Connecticut, Drummond was one of the most dominating centers in high school basketball. He spent two years at St. Thomas More and led the team to the national prep championship in 2011. He graduated in the spring that year. He was rated as the #1 player in the class of 2011 by ESPN and NBADraft.net, while being ranked #2 player by Rivals.com and Scout.com. In the summer of 2010, Drummond was a member of the gold medal winning United States team at the 2010 FIBA Under-17 World Championship. He helped lead team USA to a 111–80 victory over Poland in the gold medal game.
College career
Drummond initially declared he would spend a post-graduate year at Wilbraham & Monson Academy in 2011–12. Two weeks later on August 26, 2011, he announced via Twitter that instead he intended to attend the University of Connecticut. According to ESPN, the decision "created a media frenzy due to the sheer surprise." Drummond had also been considering attending Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, or West Virginia. Drummond appeared in 34 games as a freshman at UConn, starting 30 times. He averaged 28.4 minutes of playing time per game, during which he scored 10.0 points and grabbed 7.6 rebounds. He led the team in rebounds per game, blocks per game and field goal percentage. He scored 20+ points in 2 games during the season, including a 24-point performance against Holy Cross, in which he shot 11-of-12 from the field. Drummond's collegiate career ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, as the ninth-seeded Huskies fell to eight-seed Iowa State. The freshman center scored two points before fouling out in 26 minutes. A month later, Drummond announced his decision to enter the 2012 NBA draft.
Professional career
Detroit Pistons (2012–2020)
Early years (2012–2015)
Drummond was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the ninth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. In his rookie season, Drummond averaged 7.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.6 blocks in 20.7 minutes per game. On May 14, 2013, he was named to the 2012–13 NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He also finished fourth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting. On January 24, 2014, Drummond recorded a then career-high 20 rebounds to go with 20 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 14, Drummond scored 30 points and an NBA Rising Stars Challenge record 25 rebounds, and was named the MVP of the event. On March 3, Drummond recorded 17 points and a then career-high 26 rebounds in a win over the New York Knicks. On March 11, 2015, Drummond recorded 22 points and a season-high 25 rebounds in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. This was Drummond's fourth 20-point, 20-rebound game over the previous two seasons, the most in the NBA in that time span. On March 29, Drummond recorded a then career-high 32 points in a loss to the Miami Heat.
First All-Star selection (2015–16)
Drummond recorded double-doubles in each of the Pistons' first three games of the 2015–16 season, helping lead the team to an NBA-tying-best 3–0 record for the first time since the 2008–09 season. He became the first Pistons player to record three consecutive double-doubles to start the season since Ben Wallace in 2004–05. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first week of the season, becoming the first Piston to win the award since Rodney Stuckey did so in December 2009. On November 3, Drummond recorded 25 points and a career-high 29 rebounds in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, becoming the first Piston with back-to-back 20/20 games since 1985. On November 8, he recorded 29 points and 27 rebounds in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with three 20/20 games in the first six games of a season. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second week of the season, becoming the first Piston to win player of the week in consecutive weeks, and the first player to win the award in the first two weeks of the season since LeBron James in 2011–12. On November 21, Drummond's streak of 11 consecutive double-doubles to begin the season came to an end. This was the longest streak by a Piston since Dave DeBusschere recorded 13 consecutive double-doubles in 1966–67. On December 18, Drummond recorded 21 rebounds and a career-high 33 points in a 147–144 quadruple-overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. He became the first Pistons player with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Dennis Rodman in 1990–91. On January 20, 2016, Drummond set an NBA record for free throws missed in a game with 23, surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Wilt Chamberlain on December 1, 1967. He also set a career high and franchise record by attempting 36 free throws. On January 28, Drummond earned his first NBA All-Star Game selection as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. During the All-Star weekend, he also participated in the Slam Dunk Contest. On February 27, he recorded his league-leading 50th double-double of the season with 15 points and 17 rebounds in a 102–91 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On March 2, Drummond recorded nine points and 14 rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs, ending his career high and the league's season high of consecutive double-doubles at 13 straight. The Pistons finished the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 44–38 record, earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2009. They went on to lose their first-round match-up against the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games.
2016–17 season
On July 15, 2016, Drummond re-signed with the Pistons on a five-year, $130 million contract. On October 30, he recorded 20 points and 23 rebounds in a 98–83 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, setting his 10th career game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. With 20 points and 17 rebounds on November 19 against the Boston Celtics, Drummond reached 4,000 career rebounds. At 23 years and 101 days, he became the second-youngest player to reach the milestone, trailing only Dwight Howard. On December 7, he recorded a season-high 26 points and 20 rebounds in an 87–77 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. On March 17, 2017, he grabbed 22 rebounds in an 87–75 loss to the Toronto Raptors. It was the 34th time he had 20 rebounds in a game, including seven in 2016–17.
2017–18 season
On October 23, 2017, Drummond recorded 14 points and 14 rebounds in a 97–86 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. He moved into sixth place on Detroit's career rebounding list, passing Walter Dukes. Two days later, in a 122–101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Drummond recorded his 5,000th career rebound in the first quarter, becoming the sixth Pistons player to reach that total. At 24 years, 76 days, he became the second-youngest player to reach the milestone, trailing only Dwight Howard. On November 10, he recorded 16 points, 20 rebounds and a then career-high seven assists in a 111–104 win over the Atlanta Hawks, moving the Pistons to a 9–3 record—their best start to a season since the 2005–06 season. Drummond went on to become the first player to grab at least 200 rebounds in the first 13 games of two different seasons since Dennis Rodman did it three times for three different teams in the 1990s. On November 27, he recorded season highs of 26 points and 22 rebounds in a 118–108 win over the Boston Celtics. He also had six assists and four steals, becoming the first player with that many points, rebounds, assists and steals since Charles Barkley in January 1990. On December 14, he recorded 12 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high eight assists in a 105–91 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On January 24, Drummond recorded 30 points, 24 rebounds, six blocked shots, four assists and three steals in a 98–95 overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. He became the first player to record such stats in a game since 1973–74, when the NBA first began to record blocks and steals. During the game, Drummond reached 2,000 offensive rebounds for his career, becoming the youngest player to reach the milestone at 24 years, 167 days, surpassing the previous record held by Howard at 25 years, 86 days. On January 30, he was named as a replacement for John Wall in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. On February 3, he recorded 23 points, 20 rebounds, four steals and four blocks in a 111–107 win over the Miami Heat. Drummond had at least 20 points and 20 rebounds for the sixth time in 2017–18 and became the first player with at least 20 points, 20 rebounds, four steals and four blocks since Hakeem Olajuwon on December 22, 1989. Four days later, he recorded 17 points and a season-high 27 rebounds in a 115–106 win over the Brooklyn Nets. On March 29, he recorded 24 points and 23 rebounds in a 103–92 win over the Washington Wizards. It was his 20th 20/20 game of his career, the most of any NBA player since he joined the league in 2012. Drummond concluded the regular season averaging 16 rebounds per game, becoming the first player since Rodman in 1997 to average 16 rebounds per game in a season and only the second player in the last 40 years.
2018–19 season
On November 5, 2018, Drummond recorded 25 points and 24 rebounds in a 120–115 overtime loss to the Miami Heat. On January 16, in a 120–115 overtime win over the Orlando Magic, Drummond had 14 points, 11 offensive rebounds and 11 defensive rebounds to record his 11th career "Moses Malone triple-double"—Malone had such a triple-double 24 times, while Dennis Rodman did so 17 times. On January 31, Drummond recorded 24 points and 20 rebounds in a 93–89 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. During the game, he became the Pistons' all-time career leader in offensive rebounds with 2,431, surpassing the previous record held by Bill Laimbeer. On February 8, he had his ninth 20/20 game of the season with 29 points and 20 rebounds in a 120–103 win over the New York Knicks. On February 11, he scored a season-high 32 points against the Washington Wizards. On March 6, he recorded 31 points and 15 rebounds, including 20 points in the second half, to help the Pistons overcome a 16-point deficit in a 131–114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. On March 8, he recorded 20 points and 24 rebounds, including 14 points and 18 rebounds in the second half, to help the Pistons overcome a 21-point deficit in a 112–104 victory over the Chicago Bulls. This was Drummond's league-leading 11th 20/20 game of the season. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He averaged 22.3 points, 18.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in three games. On March 11 against the Brooklyn Nets, Drummond's 19th straight double-double tied him with Bob Lanier for the longest such streak in Pistons' team history. His streak was snapped two days later when he had five points and nine rebounds against the Heat. Later that month, he reached 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 steals for the fourth season of his career, the most in NBA history since steals and blocks were first recorded in the 1973–74 season. In April, he broke his own single-season franchise record with his 67th double-double.
2019–20 season
Drummond began the season with 32 points and 23 rebounds in a win over the Indiana Pacers, joining Charles Barkley and George McGinnis as the only players with a 30-point and 20-rebound game in the season opener since the merger.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2020–present)
On February 6, 2020, the Pistons traded Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers, in exchange for Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a 2023 second round draft pick.
