Sports media can get things wrong sometimes, and even ESPN's SportsCenter isn't immune to mistakes, as Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond pointed out on Tuesday. The offense came from a post made by the official SportsCenter account on X, formerly Twitter, that compared Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese to Hall of Famer Ben Wallace for her impressive feats on the glass.
Here's the misleading post in question, which Drummond took exception to. In the post, SportsCenter conveniently left out the veteran big man in its mention of “players in the WNBA & NBA in the last 50 years to grab 20+ REB three games in a row.”
So, Drummond quoted SportsCenter's post in his response that said, ” 👀 👀you forgetting someone *cough.”
The 76ers' big man was a problem
Who knows how the SportsCenter account got it wrong when Drummond had started his career by stuffing the stat sheet? Thankfully for him, many other commenters looked up his stats during his time with the Detroit Pistons to defend his claim.
In a reply to his first quote-response, someone pulled up a four-game stretch in 2019 where the center averaged 22.5 points and 21.5 rebounds in four games.
Andre Drummond also quoted another poster who pulled up a stretch of games where he grabbed 20 or more rebounds, taking offense to SportsCenter snubbing one of the great rebounders in the modern NBA.
Another person also blamed SportsCenter for not doing their due diligence and researching the stats before making such an outrageous post. Likewise, Drummond quoted this tweet and said, “Whoever posted it must be new to basketball.”
Moreover, Stathead also corrected SportsCenter's Drummond snub, revealing that the account also ignored Atlanta Hawks' big man and fellow rebound machine Clint Capela.
While Drummond may be right to complain, it doesn't take away from Angel Reese's achievement. After all, Reese has made WNBA history a few times already in just her rookie season. For one thing, the Sky rookie is the fastest WNBA player to grab 20 double-doubles in one season.
Likewise, being compared to Ben Wallace is another accomplishment in itself.
NBA history
However, it's also disrespectful to ignore the achievements of others just to praise the next big thing. Drummond might have passed his prime a few seasons ago, but his size and rebounding ability still give him some value around the league. For instance, the 76ers reunited Drummond with Joel Embiid because they need a backup big when Embiid takes a break.
Fans might also argue that the modern NBA has left behind post-centric big men like Drummond, but his records still stay in the books, and no one should take that away from him.