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The Chicago Bulls managed to right the ship on Friday night, throttling an injury-plagued Charlotte Hornets club on the road in a 121-91 laugher. In doing so, the team improved to 37-40 on the campaign and moved to within a game of the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors, who are deadlocked for the No. 8 spot in the East standings.
While all three members of the Zach LaVine–DeMar DeRozan-Nikola Vucevic triumvirate finished with 20-plus points, and Patrick Williams paced the bench with 15, the team also got a big boost from a returning Andre Drummond.
After missing Wednesday’s bout with the Los Angeles Lakers due to personal reasons, Drummond played 14 minutes in his comeback against Michael Jordan’s club, scoring six points, snagging a team-high 11 rebounds and adding an assist, two steals and a blocked shot.
In the wake of the big win, the two-time All-Star and four-time NBA rebounding champ dished on being back out there for his club amid some difficult circumstances.
Bulls Center Andre Drummond Speaks Out After Taking a Mental Health Break
Shortly after the final horn had sounded, Drummond hopped onto the NBC Sports Chicago postgame broadcast for an interview with Adam Amin and Stacey King. Asked by the commentators about his return, the big man expressed gratitude for his teammates and their efforts to help him during the rough stretch.
“Felt good to be back on the floor again,” Drummond said. “My guys rallied behind me, just gave me a lot of support when I came back in here. It definitely boosted my energy. I still have a lot to deal with, a lot to tackle in my own personal life. But it’s good to be back on the floor again.”
Before taking some time away midweek, Drummond had announced that he was deleting his social media apps, handing control of his social accounts over to his management team and changing his phone number, citing concerns over his mental health.
He also encouraged others who are struggling to go out and seek help.
Drummond signed a two-year, $6.6 million contract with the Bulls during the 2022 offseason. He has since made 63 appearances for the Bulls, averaging 6.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per outing while hitting pay dirt on 61.0% of his field-goal attempts.
His defensive rating of 105.5 is the best mark teamwide and the No. 5 mark in the entire Association among ballers who have played in at least 40 games in 2022-23.
Bulls Mainstay Stacey King Sends Message to Drummond
In the hours after the game, King fired up the tweet machine to offer Drummond additional encouragement.
“You never know what a person is going through in their life. That’s why you show concern, compassion and empathy to anyone going through something that we might not understand!” King tweeted. “My guy @AndreDrummond we stand with you my brother remember you’re not alone! The Bulls are FAMILY.”
Those sentiments echo remarks made by Bulls coach Billy Donovan before the aforementioned Lakers game.
“Your heart goes out for anybody. I think a lot of times as we come here and play games, there’s also a human side and personal side to all these guys. And you feel bad when anybody is going through something like that,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said, via NBC Sports Chicago.
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