Detroit Pistons fans may want to start getting used to seeing Andre Drummond with a new look starting next season. It's not a change in his hairdo, or even his shooting form, but the 23-year-old UConn product may sport a mask moving forward as he is more prone to a broken nose now.

Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy recently announced, via the Detroit Free Press, that his starting center recently underwent surgery to correct a deviated septum, which has caused him breathing issues the past few years. That said, his nose is more fragile now, and by wearing a mask, it will give additional protection and will prevent it from getting broken easily, should he get hit in the face.

“The only thing is there’s a little bit of a chance that it makes you more susceptible to breaks, which he knew going, which means he may have to wear a mask, at times.”

“Or if it gets hit. So we’ll see.”

“He’s had that going on for a long time and the timing just hasn’t been right to get it done. So he got it done. He said he’s feeling a thousand times better.”

Drummond has apparently had breathing issues for almost four years now, but didn't opt to go under the knife the past couple of summers. It has been worse this season, yet he delayed the procedure in order to continue playing for his team. He admitted being hard-headed and tried to play through his unusual condition.

“I never really had a chance to really sit down and do a surgery. Last year, we made the playoffs and the year before that, I went to the Olympics. It was really tough for me to be out for six weeks and not be able to do anything.”

“Obviously you need both nostrils to play, but for me, I’m hard-headed and I didn’t want to do it until it was the right time to do it. I just said let’s figure out a way to breathe the right way until I get a chance to do it. That’s the way I played for four years. I made it work. I didn’t do that bad. I still went to the All-Star Game, I was All-NBA. I still made certain things work.”

Should he indeed wear a mask starting next season, he will be the latest Piston to sport one more often, following other team's greats like Bill Laimbeer and Rip Hamilton.

Drummond and Van Gundy are hopeful the surgery will make his breathing return to normal, and that it won't cause him any discomfort in the future. He just needs to make sure to recover from it completely this summer, which could reportedly take up to six weeks.